Category The four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Aug 18 2022

Democrats are the Enemy of the Middle Class


Armstrong Economics Blog/Inflation Re-Posted Aug 18, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act this Tuesday, wasting $437 billion of taxpayers’ dollars. “I’m keeping my campaign commitment. No one — let me emphasize this — no one earning less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more federal tax,” Biden said before signing the legislation. Biden refused to take questions at the signing event.

Yet, independent analysis has shown that this proposal will harm small and medium businesses. “Most small businesses are organized as pass-through entities — LLCs and S Corps,” James Lucier, managing director of Washington-based policy research firm Capital Alpha, told The Post. “Proponents of increased auditing specifically say they want to target pass-through entities, which inherently means targeting small business and small business owners.” Lucier explained that smaller companies would be unable to fight back. Only large corporations have specialized lawyers to review everything and adhere to the plethora of laws.

The big companies are already using Biden’s failed plans to make a profit. The Inflation Reduction Act primarily pays for climate change controls, and they slipped in a $7,500 tax credit for those who can afford an electric vehicle (EV). So what did the companies do? Ford and GM simply raised the prices on their EV to match or exceed the tax credit.

Let’s not forget the 15% corporate tax minimum. Costs are always passed onto the consumer. Not a single Republican voted for this bill. Democrats are the enemy of the middle class — the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Aug 18 2022

Canada to Launch Digital Identity Program


Armstrong Economics Blog/Canada Re-Posted Aug 18, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Trudeau is pushing forth the Great Reset at any cost. Canada will impose a federal “Digital Identity Program” to help the World Economic Forum develop a global ID system. Since the COVID passports failed, they are outright demanding that everyone carry proof of their digital identity.

Canada’s Digital Ambition 2022 report revealed the details of its plan:

“Now more than ever, we have work to do to make it easier for Canadians to interact with the Government of Canada, and we are committed to better serving Canadians in a digital age. This will require modern, integrated systems and an unwavering focus on the needs and experience of citizens. We have made progress, but we must continue to improve.

During the pandemic, the government quickly deployed new and innovative programs to support Canadians, but we have also seen examples where we can do more to deliver secure, reliable, and easy to use digital services.

Building on the vision outlined in Canada’s Digital Government Strategy, I am pleased to introduce the Government of Canada’s Digital Ambition (GC's Digital Ambition) which has been developed with this service imperative in mind… The GC's Digital Ambition will provide a solid foundation for the ever-evolving digital transformation of government. It will serve as an important tool to support the focus shared across ministers and departments to identify and implement better ways to ensure Canadians receive high quality, accessible, and efficient government services.”

We saw the power that digital IDs provided to governments. China was able to freeze bank accounts and prevent the freedom of movement by simply changing a QR code. As we saw in numerous countries with the COVID passport, people were unable to access public buildings and facilities. They were unable to leave their countries or provinces. Governments can effectively banish people from participating in society with digital IDs. This is simply one step away from actually microchipping the people as if we were owned by the government.

The Canadian government will be able to track every citizen’s movement. They will surely implement digital IDs into every facet of government, so the people will be required to carry their digital ID as if it were Nazi Germany. Freedom and privacy have been lost to tyranny.

Aug 18 2022

CDC admits they SH*T the bed, Amber Heard style | HPH #136


By Habibi Bros. Published originally on Rumble on August 17, 2022 

Siraj and Jay discuss the CDC admitting to f*cking up the COVID-19 pandemic response, Liz Cheney gets ousted from Congress, developments in the FBI raid of Trump’s home at Mar-A-Lago, and the one-year anniversary after the catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal. It’s everything that makes you want to drink on Habibi Power Hour.

Aug 18 2022

Newsweek Sources Claim FBI Raid Was Cover for DOJ to Retrieve Russiagate Evidence Held by Donald Trump


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 17, 2022 | Sundance

Not wanting to put too much credibility behind any Newsweek report; however, the claims within the article mirror what we have suspected all along. [Article Here]

Essentially, the nub of the article states the DOJ claim to “retrieve federal documents” was a cover story so the FBI could retrieve evidence Trump took from DC showing his Russiagate targeting.  This is called “throwing a bag over it.”

Newsweek – The FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago last Monday was specifically intended to recover Donald Trump’s personal “stash” of hidden documents, two high-level U.S. intelligence officials tell Newsweek.

To justify the unprecedented raid on a former president’s residence and protect the source who revealed the existence of Trump’s private hoard, agents went into Trump’s residence on the pretext that they were seeking all government documents, says one official who has been involved in the investigation. But the true target was this private stash, which Justice Department officials feared Donald Trump might weaponize.

“They collected everything that rightfully belonged to the U.S. government but the true target was these documents that Trump had been collecting since early in his administration,” says the source, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.

The sought-after documents deal with a variety of intelligence matters of interest to the former president, the officials suggest—including material that Trump apparently thought would exonerate him of any claims of Russian collusion in 2016 or any other election-related charges. (read more)

In a lengthy four-part series, what is described in the Newsweek article essentially tracks with our own review.

In Part One we outlined the background of the modern Deep State {Go Deep}. In Part Two we outlined the specifics of how President Trump was targeted by political operatives using tools created by the DC system {Go Deep}.  In Part Three we outlined how and why President Trump was blocked from releasing documents {Go Deep}.  In Part Four we outlined the specifics of what documents likely existed in Mar-a-Lago {Go Deep}.

Take out the leftist slant intended to make President Trump look like he did something wrong, and the Newsweek article sounds mostly accurate.

[ READ CTH PERSPECTIVE HERE ]

Aug 18 2022

Ron DeSantis Wins the Coveted David Frum Endorsement – The Acceptable Republican Presidential Candidate


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 17, 2022 | Sundance

In addition to being a featured writer in The Atlantic, David Frum is a tenured member of the republican professional political class.  Frum has a similar pedigree to many well-known republican politicians, and his curriculum vitae includes:

“David Frum has been active in Republican politics since the first Reagan campaign of 1980. From 2014 through 2017, Frum served as chairman of the board of trustees of the leading UK center-right think tank, Policy Exchange. In 2001-2002, he served as speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush.

David Frum holds a BA and MA in history from Yale and a law degree from Harvard, where he served as President of the Federalist Society.  He and his wife Danielle Crittenden Frum live in Washington DC and Wellington, Ontario. They have three adult children.” (link)

[ Source Link ]

Aug 18 2022

Following Boost of $80 Billion from Congress, Treasury Secretary Tells IRS Enforcement to Prepare for New Technology Era


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 17, 2022 | Sundance

When congress approved $80 billion in new funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement division, the intellectually honest crowd knew this was not just about hiring more IRS agents.  Indeed, the personnel side of the spending will almost certainly pale in comparison to the IRS creating new technological enforcement mechanisms to track electronic payment systems.  Ultimately, it’s just an obvious evolution in IRS monitoring and surveillance.

Today, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen seemed to outline exactly that when she sent the IRS a memo instructing them to develop an action plan within six months for how to improve the technology needed to expand enforcement {link}.  What we are likely to experience is the next phase in the public-private partnership, this time focused almost exclusively on electronic payment systems, income and earnings.

On August 10th, after reviewing the legislative language, CTH said, “I predict (in phase one) the IRS will soon create an office of “digital income verification and audits” or DIVA. This agency will be used to confiscate and remove access to on-line funds. In phase two they trigger the ‘climate change’ control mechanisms.”  {link} It’s not that much of a prediction as it is just an acceptance of this ongoing big government continuum. 

An IRS enforcement agency specifically focused on “Digital Income Verification and Audits” (DIVA), is a transparent mechanism following the basic principles of the government partnership with big tech social media.  The IRS version will be a collaboration, and/or monitoring system, between the Treasury Dept and processors of on-line funds like PayPal or GiveSendGo, etc.   Just like social media, the payment processing systems will eventually be merged with government systems.

Once this technological system is built, legal and regulatory framework constructed, real time monitoring of on-line currency flow will be possible.  Once that phase is fully executed, then phase-2 becomes possible.  Phase two would likely involve the control or blocking of any transaction deemed against the regulations of the governing authority.

Example: If you used your debit card to purchase too much gasoline (fossil fuel) or meat (regulated food product), the carbon credit program attached to phase-2 could suspend your ability to make purchases.

The first step in the process is to have a surveillance system in place to view all monetary exchanges and payment processes that happen on-line.  Thus, Secretary Yellen is asking the compliance division of the IRS for an action plan within six months to outline the IRS technology needed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Now that President Joe Biden signed Democrats’ expansive climate, tax and health care bill into law, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has directed the IRS to develop a plan within six months outlining how the tax agency will overhaul its technology, customer service and hiring processes.

In part, the improvements are meant to “end the two-tiered tax system, where most Americans pay what they owe, but those at the top of the distribution often do not,” Yellen said in a Tuesday memo to IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig, whose term ends in three months.

Yellen’s memo, obtained by The Associated Press, outlines the importance of modernizing IRS computer systems and ensuring the agency has an adequately-staffed workforce now that the tax collector is set to receive nearly $80 billion over the next 10 years. That funding is needed for more than technology. At least 50,000 IRS employees are expected to retire over the next five years.

[…] Yellen last week sent instructions to IRS leadership not to increase audit rates on Americans making under $400,000 a year annually.

“Instead, enforcement resources will focus on high-end noncompliance,” she said in her Aug. 11 guidance. “There, sustained, multi-year funding is so critical to the agency’s ability to make the investments needed to pursue a robust attack on the tax gap.” (read more)

That’s a parseltongue phrase if I have ever seen one.  “Do not increase audit rates,” simply means if 75% of current audits are targeting the middle class within the current IRS budget, make sure only 75% of new audits target the middle class with the doubled budget.   The number of audits doubles, but the rate of the audit in comparison to the IRS targeting remains the same.

Keep in mind, from their reference point it’s not your money, it’s theirs.  That is why left-wing government officials use phrases like “spending in the tax code” to explain allowing people to keep their own income.

Aug 18 2022

Target Profit Drops 90% in Second Quarter as Inflation Changes Consumer Purchasing


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 17, 2022 | Sundance

In the second quarter of 2021 Target earned $1.82 billion in profit.  In the second quarter this year, target earned $183 million. That’s the result of inflation hitting the middle-class consumer.

Few people are buying electronics, home goods, durables or clothing.  Any retailer that specializes in the sale of non-essential items is going to feel the financial results of working-class families reprioritizing their spending.  Checkbook economics is the economics that matters.

Hopefully, CTH readers are well prepared for this phase of the Joe Biden economy. It will almost certainly get worse.

(Daily Mail) – Target reported on Wednesday that its profits plunged nearly 90 percent last quarter after it was forced to slash prices to clear unwanted inventories of clothing, home goods and electronics.

In early June, Target warned that it was canceling orders from suppliers and aggressively cutting prices because of a pronounced spending shift by Americans as inflation cuts into spending on non-essential items.

US retailers have cut their profit forecasts in recent weeks as consumers squeezed by higher prices for essentials such as food and gas cut back on items like apparel and electronics.

[…] ‘Americans have had to trade down or delay purchases as inflation continues to squeeze household budgets,’ Morning Consult’s retail and e-commerce analyst Claire Tassin told DailyMail.com. (read more)

The cascading impact will flow through multiple sectors, including housing.

(Forbes) – Despite falling mortgage rates providing some relief to potential home buyers, mortgage applications fell to the lowest level since the turn of the century last week—providing fresh evidence that the housing market downturn may have room to run as some experts worry about how the collapse will damage the broader economy.

Mortgage applications fell 2.3% from one week earlier, according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, pushing overall applications to the lowest level since 2000 even as rates on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage slipped to a two-month low of less than 5.5%. (read more)

Aug 18 2022

Mike Pence Denounces Calls to Defund the FBI


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 17, 2022 | Sundance

Former Vice President Mike Pence delivered an establishment republican party speech at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH, today.  During his prepared remarks, Pence denounced the effort of some people in the republican party who call for defunding the FBI.

According to Pence he was, “deeply troubled” by the behavior of the justice department and the FBI during their raid on President Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago. Pence continued by saying the FBI “rank and file” should not be attacked or disparaged for the political agenda exhibited by the organization they represent.  It’s a weird statement when you think about it in context.

The FBI as an institution doesn’t do anything; it is the men and women within the institution that take actions based on corrupt political intent.  The only way to address the behavior of the FBI is to do exactly the opposite of what Pence is saying.  Institutions are made up of people. The rank and file within that corrupt system are the people carrying out the corrupt endeavors.  The audio is a little poor, but here is the segment, WATCH:

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Aug 17 2022

National Bank of Romania Hires Fortune Teller


Armstrong Economics Blog/Central Banks Re-Posted Aug 17, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The National Bank of Romania (BNR) is turning to ancient rituals to predict future economic movements. Gabriela Dima, 64, often referred to as Minerva, holds two majors in psychology and cinematography. She also happens to be a popular fortune teller, a Bucharest fairy, and the newest hire of Romania’s central bank.

Inflation in Romania reached 15.05% this June. Last month, the National Bank of Romania voted to raise interest rates by 100 basis points to 4.75%. What will the bank do next? Perhaps Minerva knows.

Fortune telling has been a long tradition in Romani culture that dates back hundreds of years. Although the church shunned the practice, people remained superstitious and often looked to tellers for advice. Minerva has not disclosed her position at the central bank, but BNR declared that she is indeed employed there. So perhaps she will lighten the sentiment and give some of the population a boost of confidence regarding the future. Either way, her advice will be better than any analyst following Schwab’s Great Reset agenda to topple the global economy.

Aug 17 2022

Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is Gone Tonight, We Dance, The Insufferable Liz Cheney Has Been Crushed and Cast into The Trash Heap of History


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 16, 2022 | Sundance

LIZ CHENEY CRUSHED!

©Jay Blakesberg/Retna LTD.

The Great MAGA King said once before, “out, get her out,… and keep her coat.”

The sanctimonious pontificating pustule of political pomposity has been lanced.  Liz Cheney is cast out of congress by the voters of Wyoming.   Always keep reminding the Cheney folks that it was the voters of Wyoming who threw her out (they hate that), and it wasn’t even close.  Liz Cheney was rebuked.

This is awesome.

Best day in politics in a long while.