Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that the US housing market would “probably” go through a “correction” period. It is of no surprise as home prices were steadily rising from 2020 until recently after mortgage rates rose and many were simply priced out of the market. The supply chain shortages continue to present a problem for builders. Investors with cash were able to outbid other buyers, and houses lasted less than a week on the market before being sold for above asking. Clearly, this is unsustainable in the long term.
The great American dream of owning a home with a white picket fence sharply rose during World War II thanks to suburbs expanding and the GI bill that assisted service members in purchasing real estate. Homeownership during this time jumped to 65% from the Great Depression period. Surprisingly, home ownership actually increased during the Great Depression as well by 3.7% to 4%. Mind you, cultural dynamics were different back then. Women could not even open their own bank accounts. Living at home was common until marriage for both men and women, multi-family homes were more common, and people simply lived with less. The playing field is completely different today.
In 2021, the real estate industry accounted for 17% of GDP in the US. Investors, landlords, and house flippers did well during this housing boom, naturally. The average American suffered as rental prices are in line with monthly mortgage payments, but obtaining a house remains difficult for the middle class. Those with fixed low rates are not likely to sell. Shelter composes the majority of our household expenses, and countless people who did purchase at the height feel house rich but cash poor. The Fed is focusing on the demand side since it cannot control supply.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house September 25, 2022 | Sundance
Appearing on CBS Face the Nation today, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan proudly boasted of the $15 billion in weapons the U.S. has shipped into Ukraine, while restating the official position of the Biden administration that the U.S. will never permit Russia to hold the eastern part of our proxy state.
Ukraine is to the United States as North Korea is to China. WATCH:
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Good morning to you, Jake. Thank you for joining us.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR JAKE SULLIVAN: Thanks for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: President Zelenskyy told us that if this annexation happens, it will make diplomatic talks with Vladimir Putin impossible. They need artillery in Ukraine, he says, more air defense systems and tanks. Will they get it? And how significant of an escalation is this?
SULLIVAN: Well, Margaret, not only will they get it, but they’ve been getting it. The United States at this point alone has provided more than $15 billion in weapons, and that’s included air defense systems, hundreds of artillery pieces, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of rounds of artillery. And we facilitated the transfer of tanks from NATO allies who have the Soviet era tanks that the Ukrainians have trained on, we will continue to do all of that. As President Biden made clear on Friday, nothing that Russia has done with this mobilization of troops, with the sham referenda in the occupied regions, is going to deter us from providing Ukraine with the necessary means and technologies they need to defend themselves. And what Putin has done is not exactly a sign of strength or confidence, frankly, it’s a sign that they’re struggling badly on the Russian side. And we’re going to help the Ukrainians be able to take advantage of the gains they’ve made, and to continue to push back against the Russian forces that are brutally occupying portions of their country.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yesterday, Putin replaced one of the top logistics generals with a man who’s known as “the Butcher of Mariupol.” Are we seeing the beginning of the collapse of the Russian army?
SULLIVAN: I think it’s too soon to make comprehensive predictions like that. I think what we are seeing are signs of unbelievable struggle among the Russians, you’ve got low morale, where the soldiers don’t want to fight. And who can blame them because they want no part of Putin’s war of conquest in their neighboring country. You’ve got Russia having depleted its stores of prec- precision guided munitions. You’ve got Russia disorganized and losing territory, to a capable Ukrainian force. And you’ve got a huge amount of infighting among the Russian military leadership, and now the blame game has started to include these replacements. So Russia is struggling, but Russia still remains a dangerous foe, and capable of great brutality, as we’ve seen with these mass graves outside of Izium. So we continue to take that threat seriously. And we continue to see our obligation, being providing Ukraine all that it needs to be able to effectively defend itself and defend its country and defend its freedom. That’s what we’re intent on doing. And we are not taking our eye off the ball.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Vladimir Putin will carry out this annexation of eastern Ukraine within the next few days. If Russia is expanding its nuclear umbrella over this part of the country. Does that put the US in more direct conflict with Russia? And does a nuclear weapon being used there, p-put Russia in conflict directly with the US and NATO?
SULLIVAN: We have been crystal clear up to and including President Biden that we will not recognize the sham referenda, they in no way represent the will of the Ukrainian people. And we will treat this territory for what it is – Ukrainian territory, not Russian territory. And we will continue to support the Ukrainians as they seek to deoccupy this territory. So we’ve been clear, we’re not going to stop or slow down our support to the Ukrainians, no matter what Putin tries to do with these-these fake elections and fake referenda and annexation. Now, when it comes to the question of nuclear use, President Putin’s been waving around the nuclear card at various points through this conflict the last few days are not the first time–
(CROSSTALK)
MARGARET BRENNAN: –But he hasn’t been as cornered as he is now.
SULLIVAN: It’s true, and it is a matter that we have to take deadly seriously because it is a matter of paramount seriousness – the possible use of nuclear weapons for the first time since the Second World War. We have communicated directly, privately, at very high levels to the Kremlin, that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with catastrophic consequences for Russia, that the United States in our allies will respond decisively. And we have been clear and specific about what that will entail. We have, in public, been equally clear, as a matter of principle, that the United States will respond decisively if Russia uses nuclear weapons and that we will continue to support Ukraine in its efforts to defend its country and defend its democracy.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Russia has been talking about this nuclear power plant rather than nuclear weapons just for the past 24 hours. Where does that fall? Is this an escalating threat?
SULLIVAN: So, for your viewers, there is a nuclear power plant that is in Russian occupied portions of Ukraine. It has been put into cold shutdown to make it less likely that there’s some kind of catastrophic incident at the plant. It is actually still being operated by the Ukrainian operators who are essentially at gunpoint from the Russian occupying forces. And the Russians have been consistently implying that there may be some kind of accident at this plant. We’ve been working with the International Atomic Energy Agency and with Ukrainian energy regulators to try to make sure that there is no threat posed by a meltdown or something else from the plant. We will continue to do that, but it’s something we all have to keep a close eye on.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Jake, you’re a busy man watching the world right now. There’s a lot I want to ask you, but I have to ask you about Iran. And these protests led by women after the death of this 22-year-old woman who didn’t have her hair covered properly in the view of the morality police. She died. How significant is this, and is it making you reassess the offer you put on the table to lift sanctions on Iran in regard to its nuclear program?
SULLIVAN: Well, first, Margaret, the fact that we are in negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program is in no way impacting our willingness and our vehemence in speaking out about what is happening on the streets of Iran. President Biden went to the floor of the UN General Assembly and said that we stand with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran as they stand for their rights and their dignity. We have in fact taken tangible steps to sanction those morality police –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
SULLIVAN: – who caused the death of Mahsa Amini. We’ve taken steps to make it easier for Iranians to be able to get access to the internet and access to communications technologies that will allow them to talk to one another and to talk to the world. So, from our perspective, we will do all that we can to support the brave people the brave women of Iran –
(CROSSTALK)
MARGARET BRENNAN: – I was asking you, though, about the offer to lift sanctions off of Iran in regard to its nuclear program, because that would allow for the regime to have a financial lifeline.
SULLIVAN: Well, I think it’s important for everyone to understand that at the height of the Cold War, as Ronald Reagan was calling the Soviet Union “the evil empire” –
(CROSSTALK)
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. Arms control.
SULLIVAN: – he was also negotiating an arms control with Russia. So that’s– that is what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about diplomacy to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon. If we can succeed in that effort, and we are determined to succeed in that effort, the world America and our allies will be safer. And that will not stop us in any way from pushing back and speaking out on Iran’s brutal repression of its citizens and its women. We can and will do both.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, so I understand the offer is still on the table. Strategy hasn’t changed. Jake, thank you very much for your time. We’ll be right back with a lot more Face the Nation. Stay with us.
The Dan Bongino Show Published originally on the conservative tree house on September 13, 2022
In this episode, I address the shocking new moves by the deep state to intimidate and frighten team Trump. I also show disturbing video about digital currencies and how they plan to use them.
Posted originally on the conservative tree houe on September 24, 2022 | Sundance
There it is again. A lot of attention is being paid to the remarks by Hillary Clinton where she compared President Trump MAGA rallies to Adolf Hitler rallies and President Trump supporters to Nazis. However, that’s not the dynamic that should be emphasized.
The real issue at the heart of the leftist nonsense is the part where they keep contrasting “democracy” vs “autocracy.”
It’s an issue I keep referring to {Here and Here and Here} because their nonsense is so easy to deconstruct. Never has there been a more obvious example of Democrats acting as unilateral Autocrats as was exhibited during the COVID-19 crisis. Biden literally mandated a vaccine. Democrat governors and officials literally mandated rules and regulations by fiat with zero representative input.
For a full year of COVID-19, Donald Trump never dictated a single mandate and deferred everything to the states. Trump’s unwillingness to force action, including federal mask mandates, became an election year campaign issue. However, as soon as they took power, the Joe Biden authoritarian government, in combination with the state leaders who supported it, instantly became most autocratic, non-democratic, leaders in modern U.S. history. Yet, in order to retain their insane ideological projection, all of them – including Hillary Clinton in this soundbite – must deny and pretend not to know that reality. WATCH:
[Transcript] – “I remember as a young student, you know, trying to figure out how did people get, um, basically, bought in by Hitler? How did that happen? And I watched newsreels and I’d see this guy standing up there and ranting and raving, and people shouting and raising their arms, and I thought – what’s happened to these people, why did they believe that?
“I saw the rally in Ohio the other night, Trump is there ranting and raving for more than an hour, and you have these rows of young men with their arms raised. I thought, what is going on? So, there is a real pressure, and I think it is fair to say we are in a struggle between democracy and autocracy.”
“You know, I believe one of the reasons that Putin decided ‘what the heck, I’m going to go invade Ukraine, I’m going to go and take them over, you know in three or four days’, is because he assumed if Trump had been reelected, Trump would have pulled us out of NATO, and then Trump didn’t end up back in the White House.”
Man, I would love to have a few minutes with these knuckleheads, ask questions and challenge their bulls**t.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 24, 2022 | Sundance
This is epic. This is like listening to Grandpa rail against the Federal Reserve and central banks without realizing the motive behind what the Federal Reserve and central banks are doing. This is the best example to date of the misconception behind ‘The Great Pretending.’
U of Penn, Wharton Business School professor of finance, Jeremy Siegel, rails against Jerome Powell and the central bankers for raising interest rates into a collapsing western global economy. Everything, everything he outlines, is essentially accurate about the damage being done to western economies. …. Except the biggest realization and acceptance is missing…. It’s being done by design. The people he outlines are not making a mistake, they are doing it on purpose. First, WATCH:
The U.S, EU, CA, AU and western economic central bankers did not respond sooner to the inflation crisis (2021) because the central banks were waiting for the politicians in their systems to establish the energy policy that their pre-planned action was intended to support. [<- Reread that if needed].
Once the collective Build Back Better/Climate Change energy policy was established (2021), and after the resulting inflation created the justification for the central bank action, then -and only then- did the central bankers trigger the next phase of raising interest rates (2022) to reduce western economic activity and support the Build Back Better agenda.
All of this was by design. None of this was by mistake. The process, strategy and timing were all part of the Build Back Better agenda. Purposefully created inflation, the result of the energy policy, was planned and used by the central banks to justify the rate increases. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy built into the Build Back Better roadmap.
Now these ‘bankers’ are trying to collapse the economy to meet the reduction in energy production. The bankers are supporting the political motives of the politicians. This is all intentional. Jeremy Siegel misses this core and fundamental aspect. However, some of the lesser ideological western leaders (politicians) are starting to get ‘cold feet.’
The U.S, EU, France, Canada and Australia/New Zealand are ‘all-in.’ Joe Biden (U.S.), Justin Trudeau (CA), Jacinda Ardern (NZ), Emmanuel Macron (FR) and Ursula von der Leyen (EU) are unwavering and all in. All of their central bank control officers are also all-in, including Christine Legarde (EU). These unflinching ideologues are not going to budge, but some of the politicians within their economic systems are starting to get cold feet.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was the first to express reservations about the collective goal to sink their economy. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also realizing he may not survive unless he cuts the cord tying him to the Build Back Better anchor of un-survivable renewable energy policy. The recently installed British Prime Minister Liz Truss is also trying to untangle the knot tied by Boris Johnson, as her nation now suffers with double digit energy price increases. These are the first fractures in the coalition since the Build Back Better agreement was made.
Jeremy Siegel is correct as to the outcome, but he -like almost all western financial pundits- are blind to the true motive. Siegel is blaming it on incompetence, instead of going back to the original Build Back Better design as openly expressed by the central banks and politicians in 2020. They were not hiding it.
The collective western leadership openly said this exact scenario was what they were going to do coming out of the useful COVID-19 pandemic.
The Western leaders openly stated they were going to use the time of lowered economic activity (created by the pandemic) as a gauge to measure and deploy a permanent change to the global system of energy development. They were going to exit the pandemic with a new focus on climate change and new energy systems.
That pandemic “exit” was the gateway into the “economic transition” that all of the western leaders then began describing.
Throughout 2021 traditional oil, coal and natural gas exploitation was reduced by policy. Inflation skyrocketed while the central bankers waited like kids playing double-dutch jump rope. Wait,…. summer 2021….. wait, fall 2021….. wait, winter 2021… wait, spring 2022…. and then, after the energy policy cemented,… “NOW” run in and jump – Summer 2022, with the rate hikes. The timing was by design.
Finally, a finance and economic discussion that touches on the critical component to inflation that no one dare say, or else they suffer political backlash. Although Mick Mulvaney, Austin Goolsbee and to a lesser extent, Rick Santelli, had to maintain the acceptable ‘pretending’ approach, parsing words carefully, at least this is one of the first times where the supply side (energy driven) issue of global inflation was discussed.
As the group collectively admitted there is no other option other than a “hard landing” that collapses the economy from the current Fed approach; additionally, Rick Santelli, blasts the relationship between the political central banks and the global leaders who have pressured this dynamic. WATCH:
.
Still pretending, but lessened a little. Hey, progress.
In Biden’s America, you can walk free after killing people who oppose your liberal political views. A 41-year-old man by the name of Shannon Joseph Brandt of North Dakota murdered an innocent 18-year-old boy over “a political argument.” The murderer recently posted $50,000 bail and was released. As a reminder, those who simply protested on January 6 remain in jail. There is a chance that Brandt will walk free after the trial, depending on the judge and jury.
The circumstances around this case are atrocious. Brandt was driving a 2003 Ford Explorer SUV while intoxicated. He exchanged words with the teenage boy before running him over with his truck and fleeing the scene. He did not even check on the boy and left him to die in an alleyway. He later called the police to explain that he had to kill the boy. Brandt claimed the teenager was part of a Republican extremist group and felt threatened because he placed a call for reinforcements. In reality, the teenage boy called his mom because he was afraid of the drunken man chasing him in his truck. That was the last phone call he ever made.
Biden himself has made countless speeches about how MAGA Republican conservatives are the ultimate threat to America and democracy in general. Trump was blamed for every politically motivated protest or arrest under his presidency. I have yet to read one article blaming Biden for instigating violence against his political opponents. Civil unrest is on the rise. The leader of the “free world” is encouraging violence, and the legal system is turning a blind eye to the sharp rise in crime across the country. Politically motivated crimes will become more commonplace as we enter the mid-term elections as Biden has clearly defined and demonized the enemy — you.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 22, 2022 | Sundance
National Grid and Eversource are the two major electricity providers for Massachusetts. Both companies have notified the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) that rates for electricity are about to skyrocket.
National Grid has announced a 64% increase in electricity rates effective November 1st. While Eversource is on a different schedule, they too have announced an increase in natural gas rates of 38% on November 1st and the January 1, 2023, electricity rate will be announced in the next few weeks. Eversource is anticipated to announce a similar rate increase to National Grid. WATCH:
Both major power companies rely on natural gas to create electricity. Thanks to Joe Biden’s energy policies, which includes the massive export of natural gas in LNG form, domestic prices for natural gas have skyrocketed and will continue increasing as production is further shut down by regulation.
We are helping the EU survive their sanction driven energy crisis by sending them natural gas (LNG format), while simultaneously forcing Americans to pay more in order to maintain the EU export. Everything about the process is FUBAR.
Massachusetts – […] National Grid said the monthly bill of a typical residential customer using 600 kilowatt-hours of electricity will increase from $179 last winter to about $293 this winter, an increase of about 64%. National Grid said the delivery portion of electric bills will basically remain flat.
“National Grid buys electricity on behalf of its customers from the wholesale power market through a regulatory approved process established 20 years ago. That process has served customers well over the years and provides flexibility for unforeseen events, like limited supplier response to solicitations. But things have fundamentally changed,” Helen Burt, the company’s chief customer officer, said in a statement. “Today, under a sustained, high market price environment, it is challenging to maintain affordable prices. Given that, we think it’s a good time to work with our regulators and other stakeholders to review the process and electricity supply dynamics in the region, with an eye toward reducing price volatility and maintaining a secure, reliable and resilient energy system for the future.”
The company also announced that its natural gas rates are expected to rise on Nov. 1. They said they have a pending proposal with the state Department of Public Utilities that would result in the monthly bill for an average Boston Gas residential heating customer using 115 therms per month of $278, an increase of $50, or 22%, compared to last winter’s rates.
Eversource, the state’s other major electric provider, said in an email that it is on a different schedule than National Grid for setting its electric rates so no increases are currently planned.
“We file electric base service rates twice per year with the DPU,” company spokesman Chris McKinnon said. “Our last change was on July 1, 2022 and our next change will be January 1, 2023, which we will be filing for in the coming months.”
Eversource did announce Wednesday that it has submitted a proposal to the Department of Public Utilities seeking to raise its natural gas rates. They said their average residential customer using 126 therms of gas a month would see an increase of about 38%, or $86 on their natural gas bill over last winter. Those rate increases would take effect Nov. 1. (read m0re)
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on September 22, 2022 | Sundance
With most financial media being intentionally obtuse with the Biden economic impact upon Main Street, it is refreshing to see analysis that cuts to the heart of the matter. HatTip to ZeroHedge who provides a link to a great article outlining reality for blue and white-collar working families.
The folks at NerdWallet have taken the inflation date from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) and applied the math to real life. The result is a good encapsulation of checkbook economics and how the Biden economy is painful for the working class.
In total, Joe Biden’s energy policy driven inflation has added $961/month to preexisting expenses. That’s $11,532 a year just to retain the status quo standard of living.
(NerdWallet) – […] In all of 2020, American households spent $61,300, on average. This number includes everything we spend our money on: housing, food, entertainment, clothing, transportation and everything else. In 2022, it stands to reach $72,900, a difference of more than $11,500 if consumers want to maintain the same standard of living. Keep in mind, this is an average, a number that represents an approximation across all Americans, but one that’s exact to a very few. Those who earn (and therefore spend) more will see more dramatic dollar increases. Those who earn less may see less dramatic dollar jumps, but the impact of these rising prices could be more significantly felt. (read more)
If the average household spent $61,300 and inflation is adding $11,500 to the expense, that means we now have to spend 18.7% more just to maintain the current standard of living. That average is in line with what we are seeing in the real world.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
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