Legislation Within the Biden Green New Deal, Inflation Reduction Act, Has Created a Domestic Carbon Trading Platform


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 15, 2022 | Sundance

Deep inside the legislative language of the falsely titled “inflation reduction act”, aka The Green New Deal legislative vehicle constructed by lobbyists and passed by congress, people are now starting to realize a carbon-trading system was created.

Ultimately, a carbon trading system has always been the holy grail of the people who run the western financial system and want to create mechanisms to control wealth by using the ‘climate change’ agenda.

A carbon trading system is a very lucrative financial transfer mechanism with a potential scale to dwarf the derivative, Wall Street betting, market.  Secondarily, such a market would cement the climate change energy policy making it very difficult to reverse.  The new creation as explained by the Wall Street Journal, holds similarities to the EPA ethanol program.

BACKGROUND – The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a government mandate, passed in 2005 and expanded in 2007, that requires growing volumes of biofuels to be blended into U.S. transportation fuels like gasoline and diesel every year.  Approximately 40 percent of corn grown in the U.S. is used for ethanol.  Raising the amount of ethanol required in gasoline will result in the need for more biofuel (corn).

The EPA enforces the biofuel standard by requiring refineries to submit purchase credits (known as Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proving the purchases.  This enforcement requirement sets up a system where the RIN credits are bought and sold by small refineries who do not have the infrastructure to do the blending process.  They purchase second-hand RIN credits from parties that blended or imported biofuels directly. This sets up a secondary income stream, a trading market for the larger oil companies, refineries and importers.

Understanding how that system operates, back in June I said, ‘the RIN credit trading platform is similar to what we might expect to see if the ‘Carbon Trading’ scheme was ever put into place’.  Well, based on the legislation within the Green New Deal/Inflation Reduction Act, that’s exactly what is happening.

(Via Wall Street Journal) – WASHINGTON—A brand-new market for green tax credits is taking shape as bankers and advisers figure out how to funnel tax breaks from energy companies that generate them to profitable corporations eager for smaller tax bills.

The market is forming because Congress last month expanded renewable-energy tax credits and made them transferable in the law known as the Inflation Reduction Act.

[…] The tax-credit sales mark a shift in the U.S. strategy for attracting public and private capital to renewable-energy projects, and they will happen alongside existing climate-finance markets such as carbon offset purchases. The deals won’t start in earnest until 2023, but lawyers and financiers are already structuring transactions. They are discussing arrangements in which credits would be sold at discounts from face value, and they are determining how to cushion tax-credit buyers against potential risks.

“The conversations are happening. The market making is happening right now,” said Nicholas Knapp, senior managing director at CohnReznick Capital in New York.

Within a year or two, it could be easy for a corporation with no direct renewable-energy investment — a profitable retailer, pharmaceutical maker or high-tech company — to purchase tax credits. Because of the expected discounts, companies could earn an instant profit, paying $90 or $95 for a $100 coupon off their income-tax liability.

These transferable credits, however, expose a potential dilemma for Democrats. The party aimed to raise corporate tax bills and prevent large, profitable companies from paying too little. But the tax-credit transfers open a new avenue for many of those same companies to pay less.

“They can basically purchase the tax credits, advance their ESG goals and get certain economics from the credits without taking any construction or operational risk of the project,” said Hagai Zaifman, a partner at Sidley Austin LLP in New York who helps structure renewable-energy deals. (read more)

We know exactly who we have to thank for this, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.

Now watch what Senator Joe Manchin’s family starts doing.

Judge Cannon Rejects DOJ Motion for Stay, Appoints Special Master Judge Raymond J Dearie


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 15, 2022 | Sundance

Judge Aileen Cannon has rejected the DOJ motion to stay her previous order and appointed a special master, Judge Raymond J Dearie, Senior United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, [pdf of Ruling HERE]

As to the dispute of the 100 “classified” documents, Judge Cannon writes, “the Court does not find it appropriate to accept the Government’s conclusions on these important and disputed issues without further review by a neutral third party in an expedited and orderly fashion.”

Judge Cannon urged Special Master Raymond Dearie to complete his review by Nov. 30, 2022, more than a month longer than DOJ requested.  However, she did say Trump’s legal team has to pay the full cost of the special master.  [Full Ruling Pdf Here]  In a signed filing, Judge Dearie accepted the task.

(Politico) – […] [Cannon] also said that DOJ was free to brief “Congressional leaders with intelligence oversight responsibilities” on the seized materials and from using the seized materials to conduct security assessments.

Cannon’s ruling denying the Justice Department’s stay makes clear she simply did not buy prosecutors’ argument that there was no way to allow an intelligence community review of the national security impact of the presence of the information at Mar-a-Lago to proceed, while temporarily putting the criminal investigation on hold.

“The Government’s submissions, read collectively, do not firmly maintain that the described processes are inextricably intertwined, and instead rely heavily on hypothetical scenarios and generalized explanations that do not establish irreparable injury,” she wrote.

However, the judge also emphasized that she was giving Justice Department personnel some leeway to participate in the national security assessment even as she maintains her order blocking the use of any of the documents in the criminal probe.

“To the extent that the Security Assessments truly are, in fact, inextricable from criminal investigative use of the seized materials, the Court makes clear that the September 5 Order does not enjoin the Government from taking actions necessary for the Security Assessments,” she wrote. (more)

President Trump declassified the documents showing the corrupt DOJ and FBI targeting operation of him.   The corrupt DOJ and FBI went and took back the evidence against them in the Mar-a-Lago raid and now says no one should be allowed to see it.

Everything is becoming increasingly transparent.

Overlay the Durham probe and you discover, the govt people responsible for illegally targeting Trump are the same govt people responsible for investigating the illegal Trump targeting.

We keep watching….

Officials From Martha’s Vineyard Hold Emergency Meeting Following Arrival of an Estimated 50 Illegal Immigrants, Migrants Will be Moved “Off Island”


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 15, 2022 | Sundance

According to The Boston Globe, officials in Martha’s Vineyard are holding an emergency meeting to deal with the crisis of 43 illegal alien arrivals, including one four-year-old child.  The group arrived via a chartered flight dispatched by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

According to state representative Dylan Fernandes, “when you look at the limited housing options on Martha’s Vineyard, as I’m sure many of the folks here are aware, it’s likely we’re going to need an off island location.”  As noted by the Globe …”a Zoom meeting has been scheduled for emergency management officials from the island along with people from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency to discuss the next step for the immigrants.”

(Boston Globe) […] Fernandes also strongly condemned DeSantis and Governor Greg Abbott of Texas for sending the migrants to the Vineyard.

“To use women and children as political pawns is cowardice. Governor DeSantis is a coward,” Fernandes said. “Their communication on this, Governor DeSantis’s on this, was to jump on Fox News and beat his chest about how tough he is on immigration. It’s inhumane. It’s depraved.”

DeSantis defended the move in remarks to reporters on Thursday during a briefing at Northwest Florida State College.  

“Every community in America should be sharing in the burdens. It shouldn’t all fall on a handful of red states,” he said. Other states “don’t like it as much when you get just a small, small, small amount compared to what these folks have dealt with in Texas and in other states.”

Florida’s message, DeSantis said, is that it’s not “a sanctuary state.”

“Now what would be the best is for Biden to do his damn job and secure the border,” he said.

Susan Church, a prominent immigration lawyer based in Cambridge, said a team of attorneys in Massachusetts is working with advocacy groups including the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice to interview the migrants and determine whether they’d be eligible for victims of crimes visas, based on reports they were coaxed into getting on a plane under the pretext that their paperwork would be expedited.

“They were duped in to getting on to the plane,” said Church, former chair of the New England Chapter of American Immigration Lawyers Association. “This is akin to kidnapping.”  (read more)

While the apoplexy and pearl-clutching from the condescending and sanctimonious democrats is political fuel for ridicule, at the end of the day these transports of illegal economic migrants, illegal aliens, is not a solution.

Desperate times do call for desperate measures, and we desperately need to see the southern border secured, immediately.  If the transports lead to backlash from Democrat officials and politicians, and that hypocrisy leads to facing the reality of the border crisis created by Joe Biden, then perhaps something positive can come from this approach.

I find myself torn between seeing this as a political gimmick yet understanding that some shift in the national narrative is needed. If this approach delivers that shift, if more people wake up to the border crisis, then something positive could be gained.  However, at the end of the day these unlawful migrants are people.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis answers questions earlier today:

Ukraine Carrying out Assassinations in Moscow


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Sep 15, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

There are reports on the Russian General SVR Telegram channel, which tends to be an anti-Putin station, that is claiming there was an inside-job attempt to assassinate Putin with an attack on his motorcade. He was not harmed. They are claiming that the first car of the convoy was blocked by an ambulance, but the second car made a slight detour and did not stop. A loud bang was supposedly heard from Putin’s car, but it continued and arrived safely at the president’s residence.

They further claimed that the body of a man was then found driving the ambulance. They have reported that the head of the president’s bodyguards and several other people have been suspended and are in custody. Nobody has been named and there is no other news service that has reported this claim.

When we look at our models, the real higher volatility and the turning point in Russia appear to be in October, which is also a Panic cycle in the ruble. What we do see is that the Ukrainians carried out assassination hits in Russia. They have been trying to target Putin to kill him without success so far. They tried to kill Aleksandr Dugin with a car bomb, but they killed his daughter Darya Dugina. This is the car bombing of a pro-Putin supporter in Moscow. The sheer hatred between Ukrainian and Russians is legendary and as such the likelihood of this ever reaching peace is unlikely.

My sources continue to suggest that removing Putin will escalate things, not stop them. The hardliners will seize power and that will not be good going into 2023. Claiming they have Putin on the run is not going to win the day in Ukraine. It runs the risk of really escalating things for the hardliners in Moscow are criticizing Putin for being too soft on Ukraine. He for the first time started to attack their power grid. The hardliners will push for a serious attack against Ukraine rather than just securing the Donbas.

Debt Diplomacy – Is China the East IMF?


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted Sep 15, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The International Monetary Fund is not the only option for countries in desperate need of funding. The Financial Times recently reported that China has been sending out tens of billions in secretive “emergency loans” to countries facing financial hardship.

China and others have been known to invest in emerging or struggling economies, but China seems to be upping its aid and has provided more funds than even the World Bank. AidData revealed that Pakistan, Argentina, and Sri Lanka alone had received $32.83 billion since 2017. Former Vice President Mike Pence accused China of using “’debt diplomacy’ to expand its influence. [China] is offering hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure loans to governments from Asia to Africa to Europe and even Latin America. Yet the terms of those loans are opaque at best, and the benefits invariably flow overwhelmingly to Beijing.” Pence claimed that China would prey upon poor nations and take ownership of key infrastructure upon default. Another example of the pot calling the kettle black, so to speak.

Pence used the example of Sri Lanka who was pushed into default, opening room for China to construct a military base in the port of Hambantota. The Atlantic published an article in 2021 to say that Pence’s claims of China ushering in their military to Sri Lanka was a lie, as if China wouldn’t jump on such an opportunity. Last month, in August 2022, China dispatched military ships to Hambantota with the intention of using the port for dual commercial and military use. Remember that Sri Lanka recently overthrew its president and has been in utter disarray — their economy completely collapsed.

“Sri Lanka needs financial assistance, and it would not want to displease China by revoking the permission,” Jehan Perera, executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, told VOA. At this time, they are not building a military base, but it is possible as Chinese companies took out a 99-year lease on the area in 2017. Sri Lanka was seeking a loan from the IMF, but they were unwilling to take on such risky debt. Business is business. Sri Lanka was desperate, and China was willing to come to their aid, but governments only act in their self-interest and would not take on risks if they did not see a way to monetize that risk.

So yes, China is willing to take on the risks that the IMF will not. Unlike the IMF, China does not need to disclose its investments. China is investing less in US and Western debt and has turned its attention to indebted nations. This may be one of the reasons that our computer predicts China will become the next financial capital of the world by 2037.25.

Food Stamps for US Soldiers


Armstrong Economics Blog/USA Current Events Re-Posted Sep 15, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Washington acts perplexed as to why recruitment is nearing a record low. Food inflation is on the rise across the world, increasing 10.9% in the US over the last year. This marks the largest 12-month spike in food prices since 1979. The food at home index spiked 15.8%, cereals and bakery goods rose 15%, and dairy products rose 14.9% in the past year alone. Service members who rely on government pay, not adjusted for inflation, are struggling.

This may come as a surprise – the Pentagon believes 24% of enlisted personnel are food insecure. How on Earth could the US expect to maintain a strong military when nearly a quarter of members cannot provide their families with food? The military budget is certainly not hurting for funds.

The US Army is now recommending that service members apply for food stamps. So, instead of using the funds from the military budget, the government wants to take those funds from a program designed for low-income individuals.

With inflation affecting everything from gas prices to groceries to rent, some Soldiers and their families are finding it harder to get by on the budgets they’ve set and used before,” the guidance written by Sergeant Major of the Army Michael A. Grinston reads. “Soldiers of all ranks can seek guidance, assistance, and advice through the Army’s Financial Readiness Program.”

Grinston goes on to recommend resources for managing debt, spending, and taxes. Soldiers can request to receive a 6% interest rate cap on debts incurred prior to serving. This includes credit cards, loans, and mortgages. Take advantage of this service and any military benefits if you have the opportunity.

It is a shame that the men and women fighting for our country are surviving on food stamps. Maybe instead of paying off military contractors, sending endless funds to foreign nations, and “10% to the big guy,” the US government can help those who risk their lives to serve and protect our diminishing freedoms.

DOJ-NSD Frantic That Special Master Might Review IC Defined Classified Documents, Even if Trump Declassified, Because Sources and Methods


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 14, 2022 | Sundance

Late yesterday the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD) filed another motion in federal court urging Judge Cannon not to allow the special master to review documents they alone determine to be “classified.”  [pdf of motion Here]

The DOJ-NSD, officially the Trump targeting division, is frantic that an outside reviewer would be granted access to oversee the DOJ/IC unilateral determinations of the documents, even if…. [watch the goal posts moving now]…  those documents were previously declassified by President Trump.

Yes, even if the documents were declassified (they were), the DOJ is apoplectic that someone would be allowed to see them.  Their reason?…  “sources and methods” might be exposed.

The DOJ-NSD is claiming the Intelligence Community (IC) is the real authority here, not the President of the United States.  It is a rather remarkable position to take.

You might even find yourself wondering by what constitutional authority does anyone in the IC bureaucracy determine whether a president’s declassification of documents was legit?  The President has the power to declassify; however, according to the position of the DOJ-NSD, the president must defer to them.  :::spit:::  Hopefully Judge Cannon sees this for what it is.

However, all of that said, the serendipitous revelation of the FBI hiring Christopher Steele’s source, Igor Danchenko, as a Confidential Human Source (CHS) for three years (March 2017 through Oct 2020) helps to explain the current level of the DOJ-NSD apoplexy, in this motion.

Danchenko was labeled by the corrupt FBI as a Confidential Human Source specifically to shield him (and them) from scrutiny that could be applied by any oversight or inquiry.  In essence Danchenko became shielded by the same “sources and methods” scheme the DOJ-NSD is now worried about retaining in the Mar-a-Lago documents.

As the DOJ-NSD now moves the goal posts to say, ‘yeah, so what if Trump declassified the documents – we still don’t like it, and he might reveal our sources and methods,’ we begin to get a more fulsome perspective on the reason for the Mar-a-Lago raid.

President Trump declassified the documents showing the corrupt DOJ and FBI targeting operation of him.   The corrupt DOJ and FBI went and took back the evidence against them in the Mar-a-Lago raid and now says no one should be allowed to see it.

Everything is becoming increasingly transparent.

Overlay the Durham probe and you discover, the govt people responsible for illegally targeting Trump are the same govt people responsible for investigating the illegal Trump targeting.

We keep watching….

Kari Lake: DOJ Subpoenas ‘Politically Motivated Attack’ on Trump


Newsmax TV Published originally on Rumble on September 13, 2022 

Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake joins us to discuss the Justice Department’s expanding its investigation into the Capitol breach.

Gun Purchases to be Tracked by Global Organization


Armstrong Economics Blog/Regulation Re-Posted Sep 14, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The far left is eager to repeal 2A. We are not as free as we think. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), an organization headquartered all the way in Geneva, will be tracking all gun purchases made on credit. The ISO develops standard documentation that is globally recognized. Gun sales were previously listed as “general merchandise,” but the ISO is changing the code.

If you purchase a gun through a credit card, an international agency will document the purchase. Cash is still an option for now, but I expect it will become increasingly difficult to gain access to firearms – at least for those who plan to purchase them legally.

Visa is eager to participate. “Following ISO’s decision to establish a new merchant category code, Visa will proceed with next steps, while ensuring we protect all legal commerce on the Visa network in accordance with our long-standing rules,” they said in a statement. American Express said that they would work with a third-party processor (more people with access to your data) and will implement the code once the details are finalized. Mastercard said they will “turn our focus to how it will be implemented by merchants and their banks as we continue to support lawful purchases on our network while protecting the privacy and decisions of individual cardholders.”

Every credit company will comply. The National Rifle Association is pushing back, but the change is already underway. “The [industry’s] decision to create a firearm-specific code is nothing more than a capitulation to anti-gun politicians and activists bent on eroding the rights of law-abiding Americans one transaction at a time,” National Rifle Association spokesman Lars Dalseide stated to Fox Business.

As a reminder, criminals have access to guns. Joe Biden continually calls on Congress to ban assault weapons, but that is the beginning. Not so coincidentally, Joe Biden’s own family members illegally discarded a gun in a trash can outside a school, but that’s (D)ifferent. The Second Amendment is under fire, and the people must vote accordingly.

Flashback, July 24, 2019, Robert Mueller “Not in My Purview”


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 14, 2022 | Sundance

From the latest court filing by Special Counsel John Durham, we learn that Robert Mueller’s FBI investigators interviewed Christopher Steele’s primary Source, Igor Danchenko, on June 15, 2017.

In addition to being on the payroll of the FBI since March as a confidential informant, exactly two weeks later, June 29, 2017, the Robert Mueller special counsel renewed the Carter Page FISA application to continue their exploitation of the comprehensive title-1 surveillance warrant against the Trump administration.

Additionally, within the court filing against Igor Danchenko, we find that FBI personnel from Robert Mueller’s team interviewed Christopher Steele:

Now consider this specific line of questioning of Robert Mueller, conducted on July 24, 2019, after the Mueller special counsel published their report.  The questioning is from New York Representative Elise Stephanik to Robert Mueller on the specifics of the special counsel questioning Christopher Steele and/or his source, Igor Danchenko.

Keep in mind, ONLY ROBERT MUELLER knew at the time of this questioning that Igor Danchenko remained a paid confidential informant at the time of his answers.  WATCH:

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AFTER originally interviewing Danchenko in January and February 2017, in March the DOJ/FBI then reinterviewed him before refiling the second FISA renewal in April.   With Danchenko on their payroll they FBI did not need to worry about him undermining the Trump-Russia narrative or speaking the truth about the dossier.  This approach protected the fraudulently obtained title-1 surveillance warrant.  The surveillance warrant was renewed in April.

AFTER Robert Mueller is appointed special counsel in May 2017, with Danchenko on the FBI payroll and under control.  When Danchenko is interviewed on June 15, 2017, he is being interviewed as part of the Mueller operation. Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Andrew Weissmann now submit the FISA application for another renewal on June 29, 2017.  The fraudulently obtained title-1 surveillance warrant was again renewed.

The reason to keep Danchenko on the FBI payroll is to mitigate any risk he might present if he were to speak.  A corrupt FBI network in Washington DC put a control mechanism over Danchenko in order to preserve their surveillance warrant, which was built upon fraud by using the Steele Dossier. They renewed the surveillance warrant twice more (April and June) while Danchenko was a paid confidential informant.

As you can see from the Durham filing, a controlled Danchenko was then handed-off to the Mueller probe, who kept Danchenko on the FBI payroll throughout the Robert Mueller investigation (ended in April 2019) until October 2020 when Danchenko was dropped by the FBI and John Durham “officially” took over and was appointed special counsel.

On July 24, 2019, when Robert Mueller is answering the questions about Chris Steele, the dossier and the Steele sources therein, Mueller was able to deflect and dodge answering the questions about it because AG Bill Barr put John Durham into place in May 2019.

AG Bill Barr put John Durham into place in May 2019, immediately following Robert Mueller’s completed investigation, April 2019, for this exact reason.

It is one long continuum.