Republicans Fighting Biden’s Mortgage Madness


Armstrong Economics Blog/Real Estate Re-Posted May 3, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Republicans at the state level are demanding that Biden and the FHFA repeal the asinine new law that punishes Americans with high credit scores by forcing them to subsidize the mortgages of those with low credit scores. The Biden Administration has been attempting to control real estate for some time. In June 2021, Biden forced the Supreme Court to give him the power to fire Mark Calabria as the regulator of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Biden’s team said they were “moving forward today to replace the current director with an appointee who reflects the administration’s values. This was also when shareholders sued the government for the 2012 decision to pay all proceeds directly to the Treasury.

Trump was in favor of Calabria and fought to separate Freddie and Fannie from the government, but the Democrats repealed everything once Joe took over. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and 33 other Republicans at the state level are urging Biden and the FHFA to repeal this “hair-brained” policy. “This new policy … will take money away from the people who played by the rules and did things right – including millions of hardworking, middle-class Americans who built a good credit score and saved enough to make a strong down payment,” the group noted. “Incredibly, those who make down payments of 20 percent or more on their homes will pay the highest fees – one of the most backward incentives imaginable.”

Patronis and others argued that owning a home was once the American dream, and the new law will hurt middle-class families who worked and budgeted for their downpayment and credit score. “[T]he right way to solve that problem is not to use the power of the federal government to penalize hardworking, middle-class American families by confiscating their money and using it as a handout. The right way is to implement policies which will reduce inflation, cut energy costs and bring lower interest rates. Doing so will enable more families to save and improve their credit scores. Increased financial literacy efforts must also be part of the solution,” the letter also states. Lowering energy scores and inflation is not part of the Build Back Better agenda.

Providing people with loans who otherwise would not qualify is part of the plan for the Great Reset. Raising taxes on everything imaginable is also part of the agenda. The government wants to tax the middle class out of homeownership, force the working class to default on their mortgages, and move everyone into government-provided smart cities. The hatred toward government is brewing and will soon bubble over.

The Rule of Law – BEWARE Crypto-Lovers


Armstrong Economics Blog/Cryptocurrency Re-Posted May 2, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Mr. Armstrong; I think it might be helpful to explain to people that the government can subpoena any third party with regard to cryptocurrencies and they will turn over whatever they have that will incriminate a person. As a lawyer, I have to defend a client who thought Bitcoin was exempt from central banks and totally safe. He even seemed to think if there was a nuclear war that Bitcoin would still exist in South America. Some people are just so gullible it is sad and now he faces several years in prison for tax evasion. Perhaps it would help to explain how a third party will turn over whatever they have on you and that includes Google etc.

Many people listen to you because you are not a conspiracy junkie.

All the best

WH

ANSWER: You have a good point. DO NOT even allow Microsoft One Drive to have anything. The government will subpoena any third party and they will give up everything. I do not understand why people are such diehard Bitcoin lovers. ANYTHING that will be on the power grid the government will control if you believe it or not.

Bitcoin is a TRADING vehicle no different from cattle. It is NOT a store of wealth, as it fluctuates like everything else. This is a quarterly chart of Bitcoin. It rises and falls no different than any other instrument. It is not a “store” of value maintaining some constant value to park your money.

ALL cryptocurrency is on the target list for the Biden Administration. We are entering the final stages of the Decline & Fall of Western Civilization. You can see as we progress, they will become more and more aggressive because they can feel their power slipping away. ONLY tangible assets make the transition to the new value on the other side of 2032. NOTHING digital will make that transition.

Both the United States and Europe will split. That means the rules will be different everywhere, and there will be places without power. No power = no value for any digital currency. Let’s get realistic here.

Senator Mitch McConnell Reminds White House of the Republican #1 Priority


Posted originally on the CTH on May 2, 2023 | Sundance 

The professional Republican Party is totally and completely disconnected from the average MAGA voter within it.  Cue the visual demonstration from today:

[Source Tweet]

This disconnect between the Republican establishment and the base voter has always been frustrating and annoying, but now they are taking it to entirely new levels of ridiculousness.   There must be multiple siphons and financial laundry operations from this Ukraine policy.  Nothing else makes sense.

Seriously.  Go ahead and tell me how the professional Republican Party is worth saving.  I’ll be over here, supporting President Trump.

Also, there’s a Twit video of Mitch McConnell below (from today) that everyone must see.  You tell me what’s going on. Something weird.

After spending several weeks recovering from a brain injury, this is Mitch McConnell today:

Posted in Big 

Oh Snap, Did Neil Oliver Just Go Full Tucker Carlson?


Posted originally on the CTH on April 29, 2023 | Sundance 

In the big picture you might boil down this week’s Neil Oliver monologue to say there’s good and bad, and people need to pick a side.  However, the reality of the details he uses to frame the battle against the “baddies” is a series of current event datapoints the powers that be are likely not going to appreciate.

In his monologue Neil hits on the power behind the Potemkin Village, the multinational corporations behind the scenes, the groups who control the public impressions of politics while orchestrating their next exfiltration of wealth.   Incredibly, Oliver goes into the background of Sudan and Ukraine to outline how the corporations that control government need assistance from the military those government officials control.

Think about the dynamic behind that truth: the corporations that control government need assistance from the military the government controls, because that’s the reality of the thing we are not supposed to talk about.  What that truth outlines is what’s known on these pages as ‘the exfiltration dynamic‘.

Talking about the secret thing is not permitted; yet talk about it he does, in detail, in sunlight.  Oliver is going full Tucker.  WATCH:

Thoughts on Tucker Carlson’s Firing


Posted originally on the CTH on April 24, 2023 | Sundance 

This is a context you won’t find elsewhere {smiles}. The phone has been blowing up….  Context and some details matter.

First, Carlson was being paid about $20 million a year by Murdoch.  He had about 3 years left on his contract and will be paid the full contract amount.  Carlson found out about 10 minutes before Fox Corp made the announcement.  They did not “part ways,” Tucker Carlson was fired.

(Via WSJ) – Mr. Carlson, whose contract was renewed in 2021, will be paid out for the rest of his contract, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Carlson is paid about $20 million a year, one of the people said. Mr. Carlson found out he was being let go about 10 minutes before the network announced his departure, the people said. (link)

For financial context, remember Rupert Murdoch paid Megyn Kelly $15 million (Via Harper Collins) for the 2015/2016 operation against Donald Trump.  Paying $60 to $100 million to get rid of Carlson’s antagonistic voice is small money to Murdoch Inc. in the grand scheme of things. [Murdoch has also paid for Ron DeSantis to oppose Trump]

Carlson will not be asked to sign an NDA, is not bound by a “non-compete” clause following the contract nullification by Fox Corp, and will be free to do anything he wants in any venture.  Additionally, he will be free to say whatever he wants about the issues at Fox and speak freely, or not, without any legal or contractual constraints.  Keep all of that in mind.

Prior to 2021, Tucker Carlson was what you might call a Fox News loyalist.  He was very loyal to the organization.  During the COVID-19 era, Tucker Carlson moved his physical location away from Washington DC to his home in Maine.  Fox built him a studio, and Carlson manifest his own destiny free from most production constraints.

Over the past 18+/- months, viewers have watched Tucker Carlson essentially red pill himself each evening.  As he enjoyed the proximity freedom far away from the Eye of Sauron (DC’s control mechanism), Carlson’s eyes opened further to the reality of the situation that blankets our national consciousness.

Disconnected from the machine, free-range in his abilities, and with the intellectual curiosity of the average person, Tucker Carlson started to see the U.S. system as it is, not as media pretend it to be.  This is the increasing red pill absorption you have noted daily.  Along with that came a more pragmatic and brutally honest production quality to the content he shared.

Carlson’s influence grew as the audience grew; the more truth he spoke, the larger the audience.  That free-range influence became a liability to the system operators that hold power, including Rupert Murdoch who is a part of that control system.  In essence, and in the big picture, that’s what led to this event today.

Timing and Fox Digital.  Fox had just settled a lawsuit with Dominion Systems that has been widely reported.  The decision to fire Carlson had only one aspect connected to the Dominion settlement, financial timing.

Fox Corp is going to take a big hit in second quarter (Q2) earnings as part of the Dominion settlement.  If you are going to take a big financial hit, it’s better to go ahead and clear the decks of all financial hits at the same time.

Paying out Carlson simply gets all the big hits in the same quarter.

Digital is where the action is.  Digital subscriber services is where the future of all content is focused.   Understanding this reality gives you a scale of the darkness in the opposition elements facing our nation.  Fox News digital is Fox Nation.  Tucker Carlson and the show Tucker Carlson Today was the anchor of Fox Nation digital.

Fox Nation was struggling prior to Tucker Carlson’s long show broadcasts.  The entire Fox Corp digital streaming service, Fox Nation, was anchored around the Tucker Carlson Today digital streaming service.   Fox News has just torpedoed their anchor, shot their lead dog, destroyed the digital brand.  That gives you some scale and scope to how the elements viewed the threat of influence that Tucker Carlson had become.

Fox Corp, and Murdoch’s stenographers at the Wall Street Journal (SEE HERE), will try to frame the Carlson firing as something of a palate cleansing.  Claims of adversarial viewpoints, controversial views and conflicts with other Fox loyalists on the inside, will be used to frame the narrative.   However, all of those false frameworks are just that, false.  The source of the issue that led to the firing was 100% ideological.

During Tucker’s red pill absorption phase, he changed views on a variety of subjects from the FBI to the Fourth Branch of Government, to vaccination and COVID-19, to his views on Donald Trump as a disruption to an increasingly admitted corrupt political machine.

Context in the Tucker worldview expanded and he began to frame the conflict in a big picture of Good -vs- Evil.  Unfortunately for Carlson, this view was from inside a multinational corporate system spreading the darkness.   He had to be removed.

This is the reality of the situation as it unfolded.   Accept it or not, it matters not.  This is the Carlson reality.

Carlson was connecting the dots of manipulation beyond media, beyond social battles and constructs, and into the realm of finance, economics and ultimately behind the Potemkin Village of UniParty politics.  Blackrock has an increased stake in Fox Corp.

Talking about what happens behind the false front of the DC village is always a threat.   It is in the research and acceptance of the darkest pretending constructs that you realize how the illusions of choice are presented.

Tucker Carlson was no longer selling the illusions.

There are trillions at stake.

He was removed.

Tucker is free.

Welcome to the rebellion my friend!

Only One Question Remains as Susan Rice, Biden’s Shadow President, Leaves the White House


Posted originally on the CTH on April 24, 2023 | Sundance 

In the game of test-match cricket, a game that can last three days at peak professional level, you have to ‘get out‘ to ‘get in‘.   You have to ‘get out‘ of the clubhouse in order to ‘get in‘ to the game.  The same is true for this story about Domestic Policy Advisor, Susan Rice, leaving the Biden administration.   Rice has to get out of the administration in order to get in to the 2024 game.

Readers here will likely remember all previous discussion about the likely Democrat field for 2024.  Susan Rice and Gavin Newsom are both key players in the DNC big club game.  There is only one question at the core of the dynamic you need to ask, how will they off-ramp Joe Biden?

First, the White House announcement: […] “As the only person to serve as both National Security Advisor and Domestic Policy Advisor, Susan’s record of public service makes history. But what sets her apart as a leader and colleague is the seriousness with which she takes her role and the urgency and tenacity she brings, her bias towards action and results, and the integrity, humility and humor with which she does this work. I thank Susan for her service, her counsel and her friendship. I will miss her.” (link)

Susan Rice is the pliable foot soldier, the protege’ of the Lightbringer, Chicago Jesus.  Rice is the female version of the entire apparatus of the Obama team.  Susan Rice is Barack Obama in female form, and as Ric Grenell said eloquently, Susan Rice is “the shadow president.”

A Newsom/Rice or Rice/Newsom ticket is a no brainer.  Both are foot soldiers for the Lightbringer movement’s fundamental change agenda, although Rice is the apex player and Newsom is the ideological, intellectual and cognitive equivalent of John Fetterman with better style.  Most people still do not understand that Barack Obama is not just a person, he is a complete political construct -a movement in a box- consisting of multiple component groups all working in synergy.

The focus of the Obama movement is domestic and ideological.  The “fundamental change“, as outlined previously by the front man for the group, is domestic – exclusively domestic.  The Lightbringer doesn’t care about foreign policy stuff; all of that angle is sold to the multinationals and highest bidders.

Foreign policy is not a thing for Teh One true bringer of enlightenment; their focus is USA domestically centered. In her capacity as Domestic Policy Advisor, Susan Rice was the guiding hand behind every element of Biden domestic policy.

The microphone from the Obama basement does not transmit into the earpiece of Biden; it communicates into the two-way radio of Rice.

If Susan Rice is departing, the question becomes how the club removes Biden from the 2024 race?  There are a multitude of approaches and leverages available for the Lightbringer’s team, which includes Deputy AG Lisa Monaco at Main Justice.

The criminal activity of Hunter Biden, and the potential for outcomes – or lack therein, can be leveraged.  The direct connection to the action of the principal, “the big guy” Joe Biden, could be leveraged.

The Biden administration’s interference in any number of related investigations can be leveraged, and… keep in mind…. it is not coincidental the evidence of the interference is manifest by the same team that would remove the principal.  Yeah, think about that for a moment.

Put aside the 2024 contest participants for a moment (ie. the shiny things), and instead focus on what peripheral risks exist to Joe Biden that could be deployed at any moment to push him to a graceful off ramp.

There are many club-installed insurance policies, political landmines all around Joe Biden.  Which one will they show him?

Payback For Backstabbing – Lee Zeldin Endorses President Donald Trump


Posted originally on the CTH on April 24, 2023 | Sundance 

A well-timed counterpunch against the duplicitous backstabbing by Ron DeSantis that took place in August of 2022 is delivered by former New York Congressman and former New York Governor candidate Lee Zeldin today.  Zeldin endorses Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination:

[SOURCE]

If you have followed the deep weeds of GOP politics, you already knew this was likely.

At a key moment in the New York governor race, in late August of 2022, shortly after the Mar-a-Lago raid, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was scheduled to be keynote speaker at a New York City Zeldin dinner/fundraiser.  Before the fundraiser, DeSantis went to pick up a six-figure donor check from Billionaire developer Joseph Cayre of Midtown Equities.

Cayre told DeSantis that he supported Zeldin’s Democrat opponent Kathy Hochul.  The contingency for the contribution appeared to be that DeSantis would cancel attendance of the dinner for Zeldin.  DeSantis took the Cayre donor check and at the last minute cancelled his attendance at the Zeldin dinner. {GO DEEP}

[…] While unable to attend the evening event, DeSantis was in Deal, New Jersey, earlier in the day at the home of Jay Cayre, head of Midtown Equities, sources told The Post. (link)

Team DeSantis tried to sell a story about an emergency funeral the following day for slain police officer Jose Perez as the reason for his cancellation.  However, we did a deep dive on the details and the timeline, and nothing matched the claims by DeSantis. {GO DEEP}

Officer Perez died on August 20th.  The funeral was announced by the family and FDLE on August 26th, to be held August 29th.

When DeSantis left Florida on August 28th to pick up the check from Cayre and then attend the dinner later that night, he was well aware of the Perez funeral the next day.  DeSantis took the time to pick up the check, then cancelled the evening dinner with Zeldin.

Two months later, long after the value of the fundraising would have been useful, on October 30, 2022, DeSantis made a return trip to New York to fulfill his obligation.

With only a week left before the 2022 mid-term election the value of the “fundraising window” had closed.  DeSantis made an innocuous speech about police officer support, and then left New York.  Essentially Zeldin was railroaded by the financial priority of the Florida Governor.

Actions create consequences.

Today, Lee Zeldin endorsed President Trump – who was very gracious in his appreciation and acceptance:

.

So, that’s how that happens….

Former CIA Director Admits Biden Created the Russian Disinformation Hoax


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted Apr 24, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Biden’s camp completely interfered in the 2020 US Presidential Election by hiding Hunter’s illegal business dealing through bribes and coercion. The House Judiciary Committee released a letter addressed to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that revealed Biden and Blinken deliberately created the story that Hunter’s “laptop from hell” was “Russian disinformation” in order to help him steal the election.

When will the people say that they have had enough? How could they arrest a former president for an affair when the current president and his crime family have actively engaged in countless international criminal activities. CIA director Mike Morell ADMITTED that 51 members of the intelligence community signed a letter declaring the laptop was “Russian disinformation” act the request of the Biden Administration. This propaganda spread to reporters of prominent newspapers, social media platforms, and government officials across the US. The FBI completely dropped their investigation after the laptop was handed over to them and wiped clean from the internet.

The Biden Administration reached out to The Post after they received information that Hunter introduced his dad to his Ukrainian business partners. Morrell said he did it to “help Vice President Biden … because I wanted him to win the election.”

Joe Biden referenced this signed letter during a debate against Trump on October 22, lying to the American public weeks before the election. Joe insisted he never spoke to Hunter about his business dealings when he was in on it the whole time.

Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence sent a letter to Blinken letting him know that the investigation is back on.

“We are examining the origins of the infamous public statement signed by 51 former intelligence officials that falsely discredited a New York Post story regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop as supposed Russian disinformation.

Subsequent reporting revealed that the New York Post story was not, as the public statement claimed and then-Vice President Biden parroted, part of a ‘Russian information operation.’

This revelation nearly two years after the fact, however, was little consolation.

The concerted efforts to dismiss the serious allegations in the Post’s reporting and to suppress any discussion of the story played a substantial role in the 2020 election.”

Joe Biden is a liar who will go down in history as the worst president in American history. He deceived the American people countless times and has done everything in his power to ruin our economy, values, and way of life. Arrest all 51 people who signed that letter and throw everyone related to the Biden crime family in jail – let us see how far the corruption goes.

The Great De-Dollarization


Armstrong Economics Blog/USD $ Re-Posted Apr 23, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

All we hear is the same claims that the dollar is dead and it will be totally worthless any day now. Over the last few weeks, all we hear from the majority now is that the dollar is finished. Virtually every page you turn or site you visit claims the death of the dollar. They are calling this the de-dollarization of the world economy and that the future of the US dollar as well as the American empire itself is now collapsing. The general claim is that the group of economically-aligned nations known collectively as BRICS is a major threat to the greenback. That was the same story we heard about the Euro back in 1997.

As their scenario goes, the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa] have moved to form an anti-dollar colation and Saudi Arabia is considering jumping on board. They insist that once that happens, the “petrodollar” will die and cease to be a reserve currency.

This is then followed by the forecast that the economy will suffer and that any bounce in exports will be short-lived simply because the dollar will be dead for the long term. Of course, this has been the favorite forecast that they keep putting out since Bretton Woods collapsed. They were wrong back then for the dollar rose between 1972 and 1976 against the British pound, with the collapse of Bretton Woods. To try to explain why the dollar did not collapse, that is when they claimed that the dollar was backed now by oil rather than gold. That was just an excuse as always to cover up their wrong forecast.

They sold that story to Newsweek and now the dollar rally was because of oil which replace gold. Suddenly the dollar became de facto backed by oil. They needed an explanation to explain why all the old theories were wrong. They sold this theory and it made the front cover of Newsweek. Everyone said YES! That must be the reason. OPEC priced oil in dollars! Naturally, everything was priced in dollars because, under the fixed exchange rate of Bretton Woods, everything from wheat and corn to copper and gold was all priced in dollars.

Now they are saying the American empire is threatened by the potential commercial real estate collapse and the BRICS anti-dollar venture. So they are forecasting a great depression-style crash is possible in the not-too-distant future. They spin this to forecast the end of the America Empire. The London FT, always anti-American/Pro WEF, reports that the dollar as a reserve currency has declined from  73% in 2001 to around 55% by 2021. Yet the FT did state an obvious fact:

“But if you are a reserve-rich central bank elsewhere that isn’t going to be a lot of comfort. Moreover, would you really feel more comfortable in, say, the renminbi? Even if it was fully convertible and liquid, would you honestly feel more sure that Beijing will behave lawfully than DC? The dollar still looks like the proverbial least dirty shirt in the closet.”

COVID actually has played a major role in shifting the world economy. In 2020, the US economy was 24.75% of the world’s GDP. By the start of 2022, it had fallen marginally to 24.15%. What these dollar-forecasting jockeys do not understand, is that if they were correct and the dollar collapsed, then the very BRICS would collapse even further. Economically speaking, when the United States gets a head cold, the rest of the world catches ammonia. You can’t have it both ways. The strength of the dollar is not gold or oil, it is the American consumer.

The risk to the entire world is runaway inflation thanks to Biden pouring untold amounts of money into the black hole known as Ukraine. The Neocons, who control Biden, are planning to launch a war against Russia and China before 2024. This will only continue to accelerate inflation. That reduces the spending power of the American consumer and in the process, the US economic growth declines in real terms and with it, the rest of the world plunges into recession.

While Macron has figured it out that the Neocons are in charge of US foreign policy and he is telling Europe to stop being the puppet of the USA, that all sounds nice but Europe is marching into war with Russia. NATO is firmly in control of the American Neocons and they need war or face losing power. With Trump in the lead, they must stop him at all costs for he is anti-war, would haul the Neocons out by the necks, and defund NATO, as well as stop the climate change agenda.

The US dollar in the global economy has been supported by the size and strength of the US consumer-based economy. Its stability and openness to trade and capital flows without restrictions and it has never been canceled, are the major foundation of the dollar in addition to strong property rights and the rule of law. That is why Russians and Chinese buy US property for they are secure in their ownership of US property which cannot always be guaranteed outside the US.

Consequently, the depth and liquidity of US financial markets remain unmatched. For institutions parking billions, the United States represents a large supply of extremely safe dollar-denominated assets. Are they really going to switch to China or buy debt from Brazil?  Not a single institutional client will take that bait.

China has been divesting of dollar reserves because it KNOWS that the American Neocons want war. You do not fund your adversary who intends to wage war against you. China cannot shift reserve assets to Europe or Japan. They have been buying gold because it is geopolitically neutral territory. They are NOT buying gold as an investor thinking it will rally. That is irrelevant. If gold drops 25%, that does not translate into them becoming a seller.

The dollar in international reserves stood at 60+% at the start of 2022 against the US share of GDP at 24.25%. This comparison belittles the argument that the dollar is finished. Eventually, the US will lose the wars it is starting and the dollar will be replaced perhaps as soon as 2028. The IMF is already licking its lips and rubbing its hands together eager to get control of the reserve currency. But they too will collapse. We have a Directional Change next year and a Panic Cycle in 2025. So buckle up.!

Remember one thing, even with the debasement and collapse of the Roman Denarius between 260AD and 268AD, it still took 224 years for Rome to completely collapse. When war breaks out, capital flight will still be to the dollar. It will not be to public assets, but private. The United States is still supporting the entire world economy. The BRICS need the US consumer to keep their economies functioning. All this talk of the dollar being finished is really nonsense. That day will come, but when the US consumer no longer buys.

Remember 1997? The Euro was going to dethrone the dollar. They claimed the new EU will be a bigger economy than the US. The problem was, they lacked a consumer economy, and low taxes, and they routinely canceled their currency to force people to pay taxes. It is always the same story over and over again.