A Peaceful NY Protest with an End Goal


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Oct 8, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Federalism Is Working – Pushing Back Against Weaponization, The Potemkin Village in DC Is Not


Posted originally on the CTH on October 5, 2023 | Sundance 

As we rightly stop the cycle of Battered Conservative Syndrome, here’s a concrete reality we can all understand easily.

If the people who are weaponizing government really held any concern about the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Government holding them accountable, they would not be expanding their weaponization operations.

The White House controls the actions of the Dept of Homeland Security (DHS), FBI, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), through cabinet appointments and leadership staff. Each of these agencies are expanding their domestic targeting operations, not reducing them.

That expanded targeting is happening simultaneously with the House Subcommittee on Weaponization in place, presumably an oversight body. That reality tells us all we need to know about the intentions of the congressional subcommittee and the perspective of the government agencies toward accountability; there simply isn’t any.

The DC construct of that subcommittee is a Potemkin village, a false front, intended to give the illusion of something that is factually non-existent. That’s the bitter reality of the situation, and feel free to confront any representative of DC with that reality. It is a stark, demonstrable and self-evident reality.

There’s only one way that dynamic is going to change, and that can only come from the introduction of something that currently does not exist.

Donald J Trump – “I am running for President, have a 62 Point lead over Republicans, and am up on Crooked Joe Biden, despite the Democrat Party’s massive Law-fare, Weaponization, and Election Interference efforts, by 4 to 11 Points, but will do whatever is necessary to help with the Speaker of the House selection process, short term, until the final selection of a GREAT REPUBLICAN SPEAKER is made – A Speaker who will help a new, but highly experienced President, ME, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” [SOURCE]

On the optimistic side of that pill swallowing, federalism is working (somewhat) as a bulwark against the corrupt institutions. The state of Missouri has won key victories against the DC surveillance state with 5th Circuit Court rulings blocking the Biden administration from censoring the thoughts and speech of American citizens.

Additionally, in a key addition to the appellate court ruling, the 5th circuit has expanded their injunction to now cover CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. [SEE RULING HERE]

The court has stated that CISA “shall take no actions, formal or informal, directly or indirectly, to coerce or significantly encourage social-media companies to remove, delete, suppress, or reduce, including through altering their algorithms, posted social-media content containing protected free speech.”

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The professionally Republican DC effort to stop the weaponization of government has been yet another exhibition in abject failure.

Personally, I believe that failure is a feature, not a flaw.

Perhaps President Trump meeting with Republican leadership on Tuesday can introduce something new that changes the dynamic. However, given the nature of how professionally Republican politicians like Jim Jordan operate in government, as one wing of a UniParty effort, I wouldn’t count on it.

Jim Jordan is the Chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Government.

Wikipedia is now Officially Government Propaganda DO NOT DONATE ANYTHING


Armstrong Economics Blog/Press Re-Posted Aug 5, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Larry Sanger, one of the founders of Wikipedia, states plainly it is now all propaganda

DO NOT DONATE TO WIKIPEDIA

The Rule of Law – Trump is Finished?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Rule of Law Re-Posted Jun 13, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Marty; This seems that the onslaught against Trump is a desperate attempt fearing that he would stop the war and reverse climate change. I have been reading you for years. You have great sources but also a great insight into what is happening in this corrupt world. I used to question your warnings that the United States would end up in a civil war. I’m at the point I cannot see how it is not possible.

Are they really this stupid to go after Trump if he could still become president even if convicted?

FS

ANSWER: This is an absolutely desperate attempt to make sure Trump does not ever get back to the White House. Even if he does, the talk in DC is that they will use this conviction for impeachment. But that would not really pass the test since it would be before taking office unless they stretch it out until January after he is sworn in. Nevertheless, there is far too much on the line for the Neocons. They will assassinate him as a last resort. These people assume the public is stupid and it will all blow over in 30 days anyhow when football season begins. They really do believe like the Romans, give us sports and they can do as they like.

If we look at the indictment, 31 of the 37 counts brought against Trump allege he willfully retained national defense information, which is a violation of the Espionage Act. This is really a stretch for the intent of that act was espionage and nobody is making a case that Trump was handing it to an enemy. Nevertheless, the indictment was extremely dangerous and far more serious than what Nixon faced. They are not playing games.

They are desperately staging this to put him in prison. Still, there is no actual smoking gun as they say. Trump has spoken about the classified documents acknowledging that they were classified. This is a serious risk and only a jury with common sense would find him not guilty. They use conspiracy so they do not have to prove everything beyond a reasonable doubt. It will be a case arguing what they “think” was in his mind at the time. Even this is selective prosecution after Biden had classified documents thrown in his car.

They are already trying to recuse the judge. They want a hanging judge and that is how the government works. When Judge McKenna was protecting me, they made a recusal motion. He denied it. So they went to the Chief Judge and had the case removed and sent to a hanging judge – John F. Kennan – a former prosecutor. Here is my docket sheet. How they remove Judge McKenna was sealed. I was NEVER allowed to see how they did that. This was an outright violation of Due Process of Law. It does not matter. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals refused to ever address anything in my case whatsoever!

I confronted Judge Owen that he was altering the transcripts which is a felony. I forced him to admit it. Under the law, he should have recused himself for now he was a witness in my case. I tried to appeal that and the Second Circuit lost the appeal 3 times and then claimed I was out of time to appeal. On top of that, changing the transcripts is a felony in addition to obstruction of justice which they are charging Trump with. The Second Circuit ignored everything. I wrote to the SEC prosecutor Dorothy Heyl. I said since you people change transcripts, why not just make one up and claim whatever and throw in I killed JFK, and let’s get this over with. She obviously did not reply.

Now you can see what Thomas Jefferson was writing about. There is no rule of law in the United States. If they want you, you have ZERO constitutional or human rights. They even tried to kill me in the same place they killed Jeffrey Epstein. I was in the hospital in a coma but to their dismay, I survived.

Shakespeare’s famous line from Henry VI, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” must be put in its proper context. At that point in history, a charged person had NO RIGHT to counsel. The ONLY lawyers were actually the king’s prosecutors. So you can see, even Shakespeare understood how the rule of law is a joke. That is why we have the Sixth Amendment – the right to counsel. In my case, they attacked all the lawyers and removed them. When Richard Altman said he would defend me for free, the government claimed they were investigating him as my co-conspirator to throw him out of court. So much for Constitutional rights – it’s all fake!

Even Charles Dickens has written about how corrupt the legal system had become back in 1853. Dickens wrote in Chapter I, “In Chancery” of his celebrated Bleake House,

“Suffer any wrong that can be done you, rather than come here!”

Indeed, the current state of American federal courts has once again reached the lowest point completing the revolution of the wheel of political fortune. Perhaps this is in line with what we should expect as we move into 2032 where governments around the world will collapse from their own internal corruption. Trump should kiss the wife and kids goodbye, for he has little chance of defeating this corrupt system. As Herbert Hoover wrote:

“Sometimes when a government; is enraged, it burns down the barn to get the rat.”  

This is how the law is just always abused. If a parent is against transgenderism, in California, Newsom wants to charge them with child abuse. That would allow courts to take custody of children awake from the parent under old laws. If a child under 18 cannot have sex consensually, how can then change their sex? Good luck with ANY California judge ruling in your favor. Kiss your children goodbye as well if they are brainwashed into thinking they should change their sex even at age 7 to 12.

A 17-year-old cannot consent to sex, but to vaccinate minors without parental consent was OK because a minor can consent to be vaccinated, but they could not even open a bank account. Epstein was a pedophile with a 17-year-old but a vaccine could have life-threatening consequences and that’s ok for a school to do that claiming even a 7-year-old gave consent? Thomas Jefferson warned that the United States will collapse because of the abuse of the application of the law. He knew history!

The other six counts against Trump claim he caused false statements to be made and conspired to conceal documents from investigators and obstruct justice. This is exactly what the FBI and the DOJ have been doing to protect Hunter Biden and the Big Man.

Our computer has been forecasting that a major Directional Change took place in 2022 and 2023  going all the way into 2026 is basically tearing the very fabric of society apart at the seams. It is not just Trump, it is WOKE. Everywhere you turn, this is the same agenda of the left under Marxism. They MUST destroy the family unit and the children are to look to the state as their real parent and great protector. Communism taught children to report their biological parents if they ever spoke against the state. Hello, California is joining Stalinism.

This is what they are doing right before our eyes. This whole transgender issue is to also reduce the population. Thank you, Bill Gates, Soros, Buffett, and the rest of you. I think the money has gone to your heads and you are all playing God because you, like Soros, perhaps believe God is dead or never existed.

Please Scotty – Beam me the heck out of this world. It has gone completely insane!

Representatives Steube, Mills and Donalds Leave Fox News Hosts Crying on Air for Their Beloved DeSantis – Video


Posted originally on the CTH on April 21, 2023 | Sundance 

Oh, this is funny.  Rupert Murdoch’s little foot soldiers, Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino, hosted three Florida Republicans on their broadcast to explain why they support Donald Trump and not Ron DeSantis.  Fox News has big sad.

Congressional Republicans Greg Steube, Cory Mills and Byron Donalds all explain why President Donald Trump is the better choice in 2024.  Bill Hemmer pleads with them to evaluate how brilliant Ron DeSantis is, but Donalds, Mills and Steube brought the MAGA hammer.   Epic Video. WATCH:

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Poor Kids (documentary)


Armstrong Economics Blog/North America Re-Posted Apr 10, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

This documentary is extremely hard to watch but accurately depicts the hardships millions face in the modern industrialized world. We cannot turn a blind eye to the pain and suffering that poverty creates. This is happening today in the wealthiest country in the world.

Below is an update from the documentary that aired in 2012. There was a slight glimpse of hope when Obama left office and the economy improved under Trump. Still, the funds we send overseas are needed at home. Those with the least suffer the most when the economy turns down.

This a raw reminder to count your blessing on this Easter Monday.

The Debt Crisis – What Really Falls to Dust?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Sovereign Debt Crisis Re-Posted Mar 9, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: The sales pitch seems to be that there is this $2 quadrillion in global debt that overhangs everything. Paper assets, therefore, will all implode!  They seem to be saying that everything has risen due to this debt bubble and it was all created with Zero interest rates. Now that they are going up, the debt bubble will burst and everything will decline. The story seems to be that this decades-long Boom Bust cycle was created over and over by the Federal Reserve. 

This seems to be like you have said, they try to reduce everything to a single cause and effect.

What really happens?

PCJ

ANSWER: These people seem to keep preaching the same story but have no historical understanding whatsoever of how the monetary system has ever worked. Their focus on the Federal Reserve shows that they are not looking at the world economy and they do not even comprehend how bad things really are outside the United States.  They do not comprehend what is an interest rate. It is the compensation to a lender for his anticipation of inflation plus a profit. If I think the dollar will decline by 50%, why would I lend you dollars for a year if when you pay me back it buys half of what it did when I lent it to you?

Debt can be a performing asset. I advised many of the Takeover Boys during the 1980s. We would borrow in one currency to buy the asset in another using the computer to distinguish the long-term trends. I would not recommend that to someone just operating on a gut feeling.

We were also advising on real values, which Hollywood distorted and based the movie Wall Street with Michael Douglas and his famous speech on greed. What they did not really understand was that after a Public Wave that peaked in 1981, stocks were suppressed and the full-faith in government created the broadly supported bond market.  Hence – bonds were conservative and stocks were risky. There were two aspects that were behind the entire Takeover Boom.

First, I was showing these charts and how in terms of book value, the Dow Jones bottomed in 1977. It was obvious that if you could buy a company, sell its assets, and double or triple your money, then the market was obviously not overpriced. We had forecast that the Dow was undervalued and that it would rise from the 1982 low of 769.98 and test the 2500 level in two years in 1985. Indeed, it reached 2695.47 by September 1987. We also projected that by the next decade, the Dow would test 6,000 on its next rally.

Even the press in Japan was shocked. We were also projected that Crude would fall below $10 in 1998. Indeed, that forecast was covered by Mark Pitman at Bloomberg News. It bottomed at $10.65 in 1998. In gold would forecast that it would drop to test $250 by 1999 completing a 19-year cycle low. Then gold would rally to test 1,000. Gold reached the $1,000 level by 2008. The Japanese press thought those forecasts were wild, to say the least.

The SECOND aspect of our advice to the takeover boys of the ’80s was something the press NEVER understood. We would advise borrowing in one currency for an asset in another. We were able to turn debt into a performing asset. We would make 20-40% profit on the currency alone. Often, the press would just look at the debt and not understand what we were even doing.

Most of this reasoning stems from Sir Tomas Gresham’s observations when he represented England at the Amsterdam exchange during the reign of Henry VI’s reign and debasement. As Henry debased the silver coinage as was taking place in Spain, the more they debased the coinage, the higher the inflation took place. His observation that bad money drives out the good has been grossly misunderstood. When I was growing up, they took the silver out of the coinage in 1965.  People were culling out the silver showing that the debased new coinage of 1965 drove out of circulation the old silver coinage. The same thing has taken place with the copper pennings.

Because people hoard old coinage, the money supply shrinks. That then forces the government to issue far more debased coinage to compensate for the coinage that has been withdrawn from hoarding. Consequently, inflation unfolds for all tangible assets to rise in value as expressed in the newly debased coinage.

What these people always try to sell is the same old scenario that they cannot point to a single instance in history where everything collapses to dust but only gold survives. Such periods will typically result in revolution. When Caesar crossed the Rubicon, that was also all bout a debt crisis.

You must also understand that interest rates will be at their LOWEST internationally in the core economy of the Financial Capital of the World – which is the USA right now. The further you move from the center, the higher the interest rate will be. Hence, I have warned that the United States will be the LAST to fall – never the first. This is not based upon my opinion, this is simply historical fact.

We have interest rates back to 3000 BC and have studied the impact of such convulsions in economic history. As for the Debt Crisis that forced Caesar to cross the Rubicon, I suggest you read Anatomy of a Debt Crisis that appears, only Julius Caesar ever understood. 

The Bottom Line is very simple. There is just no such period as people describe where everything turns to dust and only gold survives. Even if that were true, they what good would the gold do if everything else is worth ZERO? Gold would have also ZERO value since nothing would have value.

The real issue is that as government defaults unfold, tangible assets will rise in value for the amount of money in debt always dwarfs that in even the stock market. We are in a Sovereign Debt Crisis and that is very different from a private debt crisis.

Three Random Fires Happen at Three Separate Oil Refineries in Mexico on Same Day


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

Oh boy, FOR ME there isn’t enough tinfoil folks.   Then again, FOR US, we have previously been outlining the “watch Mexico in 2023” oil production and energy issue for several months now.

Three oil refinery fires at three different facilities on the same day… isn’t good.  Because it just seems to be too coincidental to be coincidental.

MEXICO CITY, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Three fires broke out on Thursday at different facilities in Mexico and the United States operated by state-owned Mexican oil company Pemex, leaving five missing and eight others injured as of Thursday evening. (read more)

Making tinfoil matters worse, I previously emphasized, “The U.S. and Canada are going to push every possible political pressure point in order to force Mexico to change energy policy.  The stakes are high. It is going to be remarkable to watch what happens as this battle takes place. Watch Mexico in 2023.” {LINK}  A few weeks later, with more data assembled, I added, “I’m not talking about little threats, or ordinary economic pressure points; watch closely how the U.S threats are established.  The ideologues around Joe Biden will seek to destroy AMLO if he does not go along with the energy change effort. {LINK}

The origin of the issue traces back to July of 2022, when Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador visited the White House {Go Deep}.  During a jaw dropping statement delivered publicly from the Oval Office, AMLO told Joe Biden he was not going to join the U.S. and Canada in shutting down oil use and refining capacity for low cost gasoline:

July 13, 2022 – […] AMLO: “Therefore, we decided that while we’re waiting for prices of gasoline to go down in the United States — and I hope that Congress approves or passes your proposal, Mr. President —

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  It has gone down for 30 days in a row.  (Laughs.)

PRESIDENT LÓPEZ OBRADOR:  (As interpreted.)  — of lowering — lowering prices, yes.  That’s it.

In the meantime, while we’re waiting for prices to go down, we have decided that it was necessary for us to allow Americans who live close to the borderline so that they could go and get their gasoline on the Mexican side at lower prices.

And right now, a lot of the drivers — a lot of the Americans — are going to Mexico, to the Mexican border, to get their gasoline.

However, we could increase our inventories immediately.  We are committed to guaranteeing twice as much supply of fuel.  That would be considerable support. 

Right now, a gallon of regular costs $4.78 average on this side of the border.  And in our territory, $3.12. 

Let me clarify something, and I also want to take advantage of this opportunity to thank you, Mr. President.  Most of this gasoline, we are producing it in the Pemex refinery that you allowed us to buy in Deer Park, Texas(read more)

The nub of it is… Mexico was not going to permit gasoline prices to skyrocket as they have done in the U.S. due to the policies of Joe Biden.  This creates a problem.

The climate change and energy ideologues within the Biden administration are doing everything within their power to raise energy prices, specifically oil and gasoline.  This is part of the strategy to make the green new deal energy programs hold financial viability as an alternative.

Part of the policy is to drain the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve, then limit -by regulation- current oil exploration (deny leases), and further block expansion of oil refineries in the U.S (cancel permits).

Mexican President AMLO was not playing that game.  He could see what the Biden administration was doing.  AMLO read his prepared statement in the oval office to put a hard no on his participation.  He was going to continue oil production and increased oil refinery development in order to keep gasoline prices low.   Again, this put AMLO on the wrong side of Team Windmill.

We warned that the stakes in this energy showdown were so severe nothing would be off the table of potential.

July 2022 – AMLO takes a stand.

Nov 2022 – An epic battle is looming.

Dec 2022 – Mexico unveils North American Leadership Summit Agenda

Dec 2022 – Team Windmill calls AMLO an “energy nationalist,” then threatens peso.

Continuing to apply the pressure, during the North American Leadership Summit, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm tweeted:

There has been a full court press toward Mexico to change their energy policy specifically around oil development and gasoline manufacturing.

Suddenly, against this backdrop, and with our warnings as a guidepost… THIS HAPPENS:

MEXICO CITY, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Three fires broke out on Thursday at different facilities in Mexico and the United States operated by state-owned Mexican oil company Pemex, leaving five missing and eight others injured as of Thursday evening.

Five people were unaccounted for after a fire at a storage facility in the state of Veracruz that had sent three others to a hospital, the company said in a statement.

The cause of that fire, which had been put out, had not yet been determined, the company added.

Pemex confirmed in a later statement on Thursday evening that a separate fire at its Minatitlan refinery, also in Veracruz, was under control after injuring five people.

That fire had not interrupted the refinery’s operations, Pemex said, adding that “it is presumed that the possible cause of the fire was product runoff on a hot surface.”

A third fire was also reported Thursday by a community alert at a unit at Pemex’s Deer Park, Texas, oil refinery. It later updated with an all-clear notification. (more)

Now, who or what would hold the motive to see oil production and gasoline refining in Mexico targeted?

DeSantis Management and Branding Team Schedule Nationwide Book Tour in Advance of 2024 Announcement


Posted originally on the CTH on February 9, 2023 | Sundance

If you start from the baseline that everything in federal U.S. politics is a construct to be managed by the financial stakeholders who ultimately control all policy, then things make more sense.   Through this prism you can spot the proactive moves, positions and predictable patterns organized by those in control – what has previously been labeled as “The Big Club.”

“Moving Florida Governor Ron DeSantis into position for 2024, with careful branding and management, is one large Republican Club operation done with forethought and intent.”

There are obviously trillions at stake, and people are now more awake to how that matters in the bigger picture of controlled corporate politics.  Remember, the RNC and DNC are private corporations, essentially private clubs, who operate to the benefit of the major donor membership.

The major club donors are those who have vested interests in domestic or multinational political policy; therefore, the controlling elements of each private corporation are the primary stakeholders in the outcome of the policy the political clubs create through selected candidates.  The Wall St billionaires, hedge funds, multinational corporations etc, essentially make investments by trying to control outcomes.

At its core, the financial outcomes of policy are the motives of the donor investments. This simple truth needs constant reminders, because it’s not a conspiracy to see the planning, organization and manipulation that goes into club politics. In this reference, the GOP club.

Just as Big Tech is in the targeting business to remove users and rebellious voices adverse to their ideological interests, so too does the Big Republican Club carry the same motive and intent.  The financial people associated with Republican politics are ruthless, and their tentacles are everywhere.  In the 2016 election they were caught off-guard, negatively impacted by the America First policies of Donald Trump, and now in 2024 taking additional steps, aggressive steps, to ensure a tighter control system.

Big Con is just as destructive as Big Tech, as both are motivated by the same dynamic.  In 2024,we are going to see a far more violent, in the desperate sense of the word, response from Big Con.  When the people inside the GOPe club have their money threatened, they get extremely brutal.  No one attacks the Republican base voter with more vitriol than the Republicans who control the club system.

Not enough people understand this dynamic, and too few MAGA  ‘America First’ voices realize the scale of how severely the Republican Club hates them.

The Republican Club organizes their plan, and they will seek to destroy anyone and anything that gets in their way.  There are trillions at stake, and multiple billions inside those trillions are directly in the controlling bank accounts of the Republican Club operators.

When you find yourself facing a revelation and saying, ‘they would never do that,’ pause for a moment and recognize how severe the control issue is from their side of the dynamic.  Yes, they would do that. They would do anything and everything.

This acceptance, albeit challenging to comprehend in scope and scale, is the accurate backdrop to review all of the groundwork and money, the Republican Big Club operators put into pre-planning and Machiavellian schemes.  Their #1 goal is control.

The scale of their intent is also the accurate backdrop to view moves they have previously made, moves they are making, and moves they have yet to make.  It is through this prism that you can see the scale of proactive effort the Republican Club operators have put into their Ron DeSantis operation.

Going all the way back to December 2021, when DeSantis handler Christina Pushaw set about the first steps of inviting conservative influencers into the DeSantis orbit in Florida, a meeting that took place on January 6, 2022, nothing from that moment to this was organic or unplanned.

Moving Florida Governor Ron DeSantis into position for 2024 with careful branding and management, is one large Republican Club operation done with forethought and intent.   Everything is managed, scripted and executed according to a long-term plan.

The DeSantis management and branding team even created a private digital media operation called Florida’s Voice, specifically to promote Ron DeSantis in the state [SEE HERE].  They push out daily pro-DeSantis media articles to feed the conscripted influencers.   If you notice, there is a DeSantis communication strategy similar to what we see coming through the State Dept and Ukraine, it’s not accidental.  That’s what Pushaw was hired to do.

Through the Florida Voice outlet a promotional announcement is made on behalf of Ron DeSantis.  The DeSantis team is releasing the promotional book on February 28th, and the principle will travel to Texas, California, Alabama and several other states as part of the “book tour” which is really the campaign for 2024 without having to admit it’s the campaign for 2024.  [READ MORE HERE]

You see, the problem the DeSantis people have in the long-term planning, is the need to hide how long they have planned this out.

Once people become aware the DeSantis in ’24 operation has been planned since 2021, all of the ‘grassroots’ organic patina disappears, and people will recognize it’s astroturf.

You know who the Republican Club and Big Con hate more than me?…. Donald Trump.

However, Ron DeSantis in 2024 is the single best opportunity to wipe out an entire generation of fake conservatives, Big Con, controlled Wall Street alt media, and ancillary professional grifters.   #SlavaUkraini!

Sunday Talks, Speaker Kevin McCarthy -vs- Margaret Brennan


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

With talking points in hand CBS’s Margaret Brennan drops all pretenses and goes straight into her role as defender of the Biden regime in the White House.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy appears on Face the Nation for a dueling narrative contest with Ms. Brennan.  WATCH (transcript below):

[Transcript] -Mr. Speaker, good morning to you.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-California): Good morning. Thanks for having me back in studio.

MARGARET BRENNAN: It must be sobering to hear that reminder.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, it took me a little while to get there, but it feels good.

(LAUGHTER)

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, you are here now at this key moment in time. And I want to get to some of the top agenda items.

You have accepted an invitation to meet with President Biden. When will that happen, and what offer will you put on the table?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, we’re going to meet this Wednesday.

I know the president said he didn’t want to have any discussions, but I think it’s very important that our whole government is designed to find compromise. I want to find a reasonable and a responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling, but take control of this runaway spending.

I mean, if you look at the last four years, the Democrats have increased spending by 30 percent, $400 billion. We’re at a 120 percent of GDP. We haven’t been in this place to debt since World War 2. So we can’t continue down this path.

And I don’t think there’s anyone in America who doesn’t agree that there’s some wasteful Washington spending that we can eliminate.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: So, I want to sit down together, work out an agreement that we can move forward to put us on a path to balance, at the same time, not put any — any of our debt in jeopardy at the same time.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But avoid a default, in other words?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But do you have any indication that the president is willing to discuss both lifting the debt ceiling and the issue of future spending?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, if he’s changed his mind from his whole time in the Senate and vice president before — I mean, he literally led the talks in 2011 and he praised having those talks. This is what he’s always done in the past.

And if he listens to the American public, more than 74 percent believe we need to sit down and find ways to eliminate this wasteful spending in Washington. So, I don’t believe he would change his behavior from before, and I know there’s a willingness on our side to find a way that we can find a reasonable and responsible way to get this done.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But, right, I mean, you know why I’m asking that…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: … in terms of not linking one as leverage for the other.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes.

Well, in my first conversation — and, to be fair, the president, when he called me to congratulate winning speaker, this is one of the first things I brought up to him. And he said we’d sit down together.

Now, I know his staff tries to say something different, but I think the president is going to be willing to make an agreement together.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, we’ll watch for that on Wednesday.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: I’m hopeful, yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to dig into what you are willing to put on the table because Republicans campaigned on fiscal responsibility.

You promised you won’t spend more next year than you did last year. Are you willing to consider any reductions to Social Security and Medicare?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: No. Let’s take those off the table. We want to…

MARGARET BRENNAN: Completely?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes.

I mean, if you read our commitment to America, all we talk about is strengthening Medicare and Social Security. So — and I know the president says he doesn’t want to look at it, but we’ve got to make sure we strengthen those. I think…

MARGARET BRENNAN: What do you mean by strengthen them? You mean lift the retirement age, for example?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: No, no, no.

What I’m talking about, Social Security and Medicare, you keep that to the side. What I want to look at is, they’ve increased spending by 30 percent, $400 billion, in four years. When you look at what they have done, adding $10 trillion of debt for the next 10 years in the short time period, if you just look a month ago, they went through and they never even passed a bill through appropriations in the Senate.

While Mr. Schumer has been leader, he’s never passed a budget. He’s never passed the appropriation bill. He simply waits to the — to the end of the year and allowed two senators who are no longer here to write a $1.7 trillion omnibus bill. I think we…

MARGARET BRENNAN: You want to work with Democrats to come to agreement on a budget?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Is that what you’re saying?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes, I — I first think our very first responsibility, we both should have to pass a budget. We both should have to pass the appropriations bill, so the country can see the direction we’re going.

But you cannot continue the spending that has brought this inflation, that has brought our economic problems. We’ve got to get our spending under control.

MARGARET BRENNAN: OK, just fact-check, though, 25 percent of the debt was incurred during the last four years of the Trump presidency. I mean, this is cumulative debt over many, many years.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes, well, over the short — this time period.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: But you’ve also found that you had a pandemic.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: And, as that pandemic comes down, those programs leave. I have watched the president say he cut it.

No, it is spending $500 billion more than what was projected. They have spent more. And we’ve got to stop the waste.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Is defense spending on the table?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, look, I — I want to make sure we’re protected in our defense spending, but I want to make sure it’s effective and efficient.

I want to look at every single dollar we’re spending, no matter where it’s being spent. I want to eliminate waste wherever it is.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But when you became speaker, you did come to that agreement I have referenced of capping ’24 spending at ’22 levels.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, look, listen…

MARGARET BRENNAN: So that would call for reductions.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, I mean, look, you’re going to tell me, inside defense, there’s no waste? Others? I mean…

(CROSSTALK)

MARGARET BRENNAN: So defense spending is up for negotiation?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: They spend a lot of — I think everything, when you look at discretionary, is sitting there.

It’s like every single household. It’s like every single state. We shouldn’t just print more money. We should balance our budget. So I want to look at every single department. Where can we become more efficient, more effective, and more accountable? That should be…

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, more efficiencies in Social Security and Medicare as well?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: The one thing I want to say, we take Social Security…

MARGARET BRENNAN: Completely?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: … and Medicare off the table.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Would you support a short-term debt limit extension until September, buy more time for talks?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Look, I don’t want to sit and negotiate here.

I would rather sit down with the president, and let’s have those discussions. The one thing I do know is, we cannot continue the waste that is happening. We cannot continue just to spend more money and leverage the debt of the future of America.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: We’ve got to get to a balanced budget.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, and I think many people would agree with you on the issue of fiscal responsibility, but there’s that deadline on the calendar in terms of facing potential default.

Are you saying…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, wait. Wait a minute…

MARGARET BRENNAN: … you will guarantee the United States will not do that?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Listen, we’re not going to default.

But let me be very honest with you right now. So we hit the statutory date. But let’s take a pause. We have hundreds of billions of dollars. This won’t come to fruition until sometime in June. So the responsible thing to do is sit down like two adults and start having that discussion.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-hmm.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Unfortunately, the White House was saying before, like, they wouldn’t even talk.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: I’m — I’m thankful that we’re meeting on Wednesday, but that’s exactly what we should be doing.

And we should be coming to a responsible solution. Every family does this. What is — what has happened with the debt limit is, you reached your credit card limit. Should we just continue to raise the limit? Or should we look at what we’re spending?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it’s paying past commitments.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: If Chuck Schumer — yes, but if — no, no.

Chuck Schumer never passed a budget since he’s been leading. He’s never passed an appropriation bill. Those are the most basic things that Congress should do. And what — if you’re going to show to the American public where you want to spend your money, and if you’re going to ask the hardworking taxpayer for more of their money, you first should lay out how you’re going to spend it, and you should eliminate any waste, so you don’t have to raise more taxes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But just to put a fine point on it, because it matters a lot to the markets in particular, you will avoid a default? You will not let that happen on your watch?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Look, there will not be a default.

But what is really irresponsible is what the Democrats are doing right now, saying you should just raise the limit.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But would you…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: I think…

MARGARET BRENNAN: Would you get in the way — if 15 Republicans came to you and said they would be willing to raise the debt limit…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: The only person — but let me be very clear.

MARGARET BRENNAN: … would you allow them to do so with Democrats?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: The person — the only person who is getting in the way right now is the president and Schumer. They won’t even pass a budget. They won’t even negotiate. We have now until June.

I want to make sure we have something responsible, something that we can move forward on and something that we can balance our debt with. So I’m looking for sitting down. That’s exactly what I have been asking for. The only one who’s playing with the markets right now is the president to have the idea that he wouldn’t talk.

Does the president really believe and, really, all your viewers, do you believe there’s no waste in government? Do you believe there was no waste in that $1.7 trillion? That’s what we were spending just four weeks ago. So, I think the rational position here is, sit down, eliminate the waste and put us on a path to balance.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll watch for that meeting on Wednesday.

I want to ask you about your vision of leadership. You made a number of deals within your party to win the speakership. Senator Mitch McConnell, your Republican colleague, said: “Hopefully McCarthy was not so weakened by all this that he can’t be an effective speaker.”

How can you effectively govern with a very narrow majority and when your conference is so divided?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, that may be somebody else’s opinion. So let’s just see what my father always said. It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.

So, let’s — you see what happened in the first week. So, in the very first week, we have passed what? We repealed the 87,000 IRS agents. We bipartisanly created a new Select Committee on China, where 146 Democrats joined with us.

We bipartisanly passed to stop the Strategic Petroleum Reserve being sold to China, where 113 Democrats joined with us. We have just now, for the first time on the House — it hasn’t happened in seven years, the entire time the Democrats were in the majority, where you had an open rule.

And let me explain what that is. An open rule allows every single member of the House to offer an amendment on a bill. So what I’m trying to do here is let every voice in America have their ability inside the House. We opened the House back up so the public could actually join.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So you’re arguing you haven’t been weakened? But…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: I — no, it’s only been strengthened.

Maybe people didn’t like what they saw that we didn’t win on the very first vote, but that was democracy. And what you found at the end of the day, we’re actually stronger.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I would…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: You know what else?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: We changed it where members of Congress now have to show up for work. I know, in the Senate, they don’t come very often.

But if you look what we’ve been able to do, we’re transforming Congress. We’re looking for solutions.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you also allowed one — just one member now can force a vote to oust you as speaker.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: OK.

MARGARET BRENNAN: How can you expect to serve in the next two years in this role?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Exactly how every other speaker has served with that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Without those rules like that right now.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: No.

MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s a risk.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: OK.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I mean, do you really think you can control the Freedom Caucus and some of those more conservative members who gave you such a hard time?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Everybody has a voice.

But let me — let me explain that. That one vote to vacate, that’s not new. That’s been around for 100 years. The only person who took it away when they got a small majority was Nancy Pelosi. So, Nancy felt she did not have the power to stay in office if that was there. I’m very comfortable in where we are.

MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: So I don’t have any fear in that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You don’t regret any of the concessions you made?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: The only concession I made was taking it from five to one, where it’s been around for 100 years.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about some of the makeup of your caucus.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: According to CBS records, 70 percent of the House GOP members denied the results of the 2020 election.

You’ve put many of them on very key committees, Intelligence, Homeland Security, Oversight. Why are you elevating people who are denying reality like that?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, if you look to the Democrats, their ranking member, Raskin, had the same thing, denied Trump when Bush was in there. Bennie Thompson, who was the…

(CROSSTALK)

MARGARET BRENNAN: Did you see those numbers we just put up there?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Did you see the — yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Seventy percent.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Did you also be fair and equal and where you looked at Raskin did the same thing. Bennie Thompson, who’s a ranking member and was the chair?

These individuals were chair in the Democratic Party.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m asking you, as leader of Kevin McCarthy’s House…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: But I’m also — I’m also…

MARGARET BRENNAN: … why you made these choices. These were your choices.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes, They’re my choices, but they’re the conference choices.

But I’m also asking you, when you look to see just Republicans, Democrats have done the same thing. So maybe it’s not denying. Maybe it’s the only opportunity they have to have a question about what went on during the election.

So, if you want to hold Republicans to that equation, why don’t you also hold Democrats? Why don’t you hold Jamie Raskin? Why don’t you hold Bennie Thompson, when Democrats had appointed them to be chair? I never once heard you ask Nancy Pelosi or any Democrat that question when they were in power in the majority, when they questioned…

MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re talking about things going back to 2000, which was a time…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, you’re talking about…

MARGARET BRENNAN: … when I didn’t have this show back then…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: … which is why I’m asking you now about your leadership.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: No, on, but they were — they were in power last Congress. So, why — why…

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you’re talking about questions from 2000 election.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: But you’re asking me about that happened to another Congress.

MARGARET BRENNAN: About these choices you just made, you just made.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: You’re asking about questions for another Congress.

So, the only thing I’m simply…

MARGARET BRENNAN: This is your Congress.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: These — these are members who just got elected by their constituents, and we put them into committees, and I’m proud to do it.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me ask you about some specifics then. Marjorie Taylor Greene, you put her on a new subcommittee to investigate the origins of COVID.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: She compared mask requirements to the type of abuse Jews were subjected to during the Holocaust. She called for Fauci to be arrested and imprisoned, and she spread conspiracy theories.

How is anyone supposed to take that work seriously and find that work credible?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Very well. You look at all of it, so you have all the questions out there. I think what the American public…

MARGARET BRENNAN: You think these are legitimate questions?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: I think what the American public wants to see is an open dialogue in the process. This is a select committee where people can have all the questions they want, and you’ll see the outcome.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You know that there is a lot of doubt about institutions and faith in institutions in this country.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Oh, yes, when you saw what happened in Congress where they had proxy voting, where bills didn’t go through committees, and you…

(CROSSTALK)

MARGARET BRENNAN: I don’t think most people know what proxy voting is.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, let — well let — Well, let’s explain what proxy…

MARGARET BRENNAN: But — but approval…

(CROSSTALK)

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: But I think it would be fair to your viewers…

MARGARET BRENNAN: Approval level, according to Gallup, of Congress is at 22 percent. Approval level of journalists is also not very high, I will give you that.

But doesn’t it further wear down credibility when you put someone who is under state, local, federal, and international investigation as a representative of your party on committees?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Are you talking about Swalwell?

MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m talking about George Santos…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: No, I…

MARGARET BRENNAN: … representative from New York.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, we should have that discussion. So let’s have that discussion.

You want to bring up Santos, and let’s talk about the institution itself, because I agree wholeheartedly that Congress is broken. And I think your — I think your listeners or viewers should understand what proxy voting was, because it never took place in Congress before.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But I’m asking you about George Santos.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: I know you asked me a question. Let me ask you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because you could put it to a vote to try to oust him.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: You asked me a question. I would appreciate if you let me answer.

So let’s go through this, because it’s not one simple answer. Congress is broken, based upon what has transpired in the last Congress. The American public wasn’t able to come in to see us. People voted by proxy, meaning you didn’t have to show up for work, Bills didn’t go — have to go through committee.

So what I’m trying to do is open the people’s house back for the people so their voice is there, so people are held accountable.

So, now, as I just had in the last week, for the first time in seven years…

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: … every member got to vote.

MARGARET BRENNAN: If you got a third of your caucus to vote to oust him, you could do so.

(CROSSTALK)

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you — you don’t think you could get your Republicans to do that?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: I wasn’t finished answering the question.

So, if every single new person brought into Congress was elected by their constituents, what their constituents have done is lend their voice to the American public. So those members can all serve on committee.

Now, what I’m trying to do is change some of these committees as well, like the Intel Committee is different than any other committee.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, you’re just not going to answer the question I asked?

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, no, I — no, you don’t get a question whether I answer it. You asked a question. I’m trying to get you through that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I don’t think you’ve said the name George Santos, like, once.

(LAUGHTER)

MARGARET BRENNAN: I have asked you a few times.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: But you know what? I just — but — but…

MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re talking about proxy voting and other things.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: No, no, no, but — no, you started the question with Congress was broken, and I agreed with you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: No. Congress…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: But I was answering the question of how Congress is broken and how we’re changing it.

So, if I can finish the question that you asked me, how Congress is broken, I equated every single member…

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: … that just got elected by their — by their constituents. They have a right to serve.

MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: So that means that Santos can serve on a committee…

MARGARET BRENNAN: OK.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: … the same way Swalwell, who had a relationship with a Chinese spy.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Speaker…

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: But they will not serve on Intel, because I think…

(CROSSTALK)

MARGARET BRENNAN: They’re wrapping me in the control room, because we have a break.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well that’s unfortunate. I wish I could answer the question.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I have to leave it there. I would love to have you back.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY: I would love to be able to come back and have time to answer the questions.

MARGARET BRENNAN: OK. We’ve spent a lot of time here, and I have more questions for you.

But I got to go.