jeffahern Published originally on Rumble on October 26, 2022
The worst math scores ever and the worst reading scores in 30 years. Liberal’s gift to you.
US Schools Have Worst Test Scores Ever!
Category The Red Pill or the Blue Pill
Davos in the Desert
Armstrong Economics Blog/World Trade Re-Posted Oct 27, 2022 by Martin Armstrong
Some of the biggest players have gathered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the annual Future Investment Initiative (FII). The conference is often referred to as “Davos in the Desert,” as they are competing with the World Economic Forum to be the largest economic conference of the year. Washington’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is at a standstill, but that is not preventing Wall Street’s chief names from attending.
“American companies will make their own decisions about their presence and where to invest, taking into account a range of factors including legal constraints, the business environment, and reputational concerns that can arise from public policy choices made by host countries,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary.
Former Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who both run private funds backed by the Saudis, were in attendance. JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon and Goldman’s David Solomon spoke at the event along with Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman and investor Ray Dalio. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried also spoke at the event. No one associated with the Biden Administration was in attendance as Washington is re-evaluating its relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s economy is rapidly growing. The event is Prince Mohammed’s opportunity to show that the kingdom is ready to be seen as a financial powerhouse beyond its energy sector. The private sector is making it known that they are willing to invest in Saudi Arabia despite Washington’s reluctance.
Local Arizona Media Poll, Candidate Kari Lake Pulling Away as Democrat Katie Hobbs Refuses to Debate
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on October 26, 2022 | Sundance
The primary reason Katie Hobbs is refusing to debate has to be connected to her complete lack of qualifications and her transparent lack of articulate intelligence. Having watched a few interviews with Hobbs, it’s obvious more visibility would only hurt her.
Conversely, the more voters see Mrs. Kari Lake the more they like her. Mrs Lake is a very impressive and articulate candidate on policy and substance. Additionally, she believes her message and speaks directly to the concerns of Arizona voters.
A recent poll released today by Fox10 shows Mrs. Lake pulling ahead:
ARIZONA – […] With less than 2 weeks to go before the November election, Republican Kari Lake leads Democrat Katie Hobbs by 11 percentage points. Only about 2% of voters are undecided. Pollster Matt Towery believes that Hobbs’ reluctance to debate Lake may be a reason why the gap has widened in recent weeks. According to InsiderAdvantage, Lake is polling higher among older adults and Hispanics. (more)
I have a hunch the VP position is going to come down to Marjorie Taylor Greene or Kari Lake.
Biden Created a Secret Deal with Saudi Arabia to Lower Gasoline Prices Ahead of Midterm Election, Leading to Anger Over White House Feeling Double-Crossed
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on October 26, 2022 | Sundance
The extreme vitriol against the recent OPEC+ decision to cut oil output, specifically the extreme Biden anger toward Saudi Arabia, now takes on additional context as the New York Times writes about a secretly negotiated deal between the Kingdom and White House officials that was never executed.
As the Times reveals, over the summer the White House thought their team had negotiated a deal with Saudi Arabia for increased oil production that would have lowered oil and gasoline costs in the U.S, strategically timed before the midterm election.
With that agreement in mind, Joe Biden went to Saudi Arabia a few months ago. However, as the western alliance began putting more pressure on Russia and increased the activity within Ukraine, the Saudi’s aligned with OPEC+ to support Russia via lowered oil outputs. The White House felt double-crossed, hence the fury.
(New York Times) – WASHINGTON — As President Biden was planning a politically risky trip to Saudi Arabia this summer, his top aides thought they had struck a secret deal to boost oil production through the end of the year — an arrangement that could have helped justify breaking a campaign pledge to shun the kingdom and its crown prince. It didn’t work out that way.
Mr. Biden went through with the trip. But earlier this month, Saudi Arabia and Russia steered a group of oil-producing countries in voting to slash oil production by two million barrels per day, the opposite of the outcome the administration thought it had secured as the Democratic Party struggles to deal with inflation and high gas prices heading into the November elections.
The move led angry Biden administration officials to reassess America’s relationship with the kingdom and produced a flurry of accusatory statements between the two governments — including a charge by the White House that Saudi Arabia was helping Russia in its war in Ukraine.
[Democrat] Lawmakers who had been told about the trip’s benefits in classified briefings and other conversations that included details of the oil deal — which has not been previously disclosed and was supposed to lead to a surge in production between September and December — have been left fuming that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman duped the administration. (read more)
This approach makes sense from the perspective of a White House intent on manipulating the U.S. economy to achieve ideological goals.
The climate change agenda is a larger picture scheme all about power and control. Downstream mechanisms of government, and institutions in the private and financial sector, collaboratively created by people in power, want to take advantage of the fraudulent dynamic for increased influence and affluence.
The love of money is always at the root of evil enterprise. The Build Back Better / Green New Deal is ultimately about controlling people and assembling more wealth amid a small tier of self-described elites. Inflation that crushes the working class around the world is an outcome of this larger dynamic of manipulating energy.
“The Great Reset” is designed to the benefit of the few.
…”I think they may have wanted a sword dance, lol”…
Arizona Governor Candidate Kari Lake Responds to Hypothetical Threat of NFL Superbowl Boycott for Securing the Border
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on October 25, 2022 | Sundance |
During an Arizona media gubernatorial Q&A with Republican candidate Kari Lake, the pundit asked Mrs. Lake about hypothetical backlash from the NFL toward her campaign promise to secure the border.
The continually impressive Kari Lake handled the question forthrightly. WATCH:
The full question and answer session is below.
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Bidenomics – Home Values Continue Dropping Quickly, Especially on West Coast – Meanwhile Rents Continue Increasing
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on October 25, 2022 | Sundance
As inflation bites the working-class hard, U.S. household savings rates continue dropping fast. When combined with drops in home values the loss in home equity compounds the issue. American families are getting poorer much more quickly under Joe Biden’s economic policies.
According to the Wall Street Journal home values dropped in August at their highest monthly rate of decrease since 2011 {link}. In part this is driven by higher mortgage rates which are pricing home buyers out of the market. However, the regional impact is worse on the west coast than east or southeast.
[…] The housing market has slowed abruptly this year due to a rapid increase in mortgage rates, which has raised borrowing costs for home buyers and pushed many prospective buyers out of the market. Existing-home sales fell for eight straight months through September. (link)
As noted in The Daily Mail review of a similar analysis: “It’s Northern California that leads the way, with San Jose experiencing a drop of 10.8 percent since September, followed by San Francisco at 8.5 percent, then it’s Seattle at 8.2 percent, Denver at 5.8 percent, San Diego 5.2 percent, Portland 5.1 percent, Las Vegas 4.8 percent and Phoenix at 4.4 percent.” (link)
What we are seeing is a confluence of events, generally brought about by the outcomes of larger Biden administration policy. Massive increases in energy costs are the result of energy policy; those increases are fueling inflation from the supply side on food, fuel, electricity, home heating etc. Simultaneously, Fed monetary policy is driving consumer demand down. The recession debate continues amid the economic think-tanks while Main Street outcomes show we have been in a recessionary period all year.
The majority of consumers have stopped purchasing nonessential goods and services. As a result, the only thing holding the economy together is employment. Sooner or later, as the natural lags in the economy bite down, the lack of consumer spending (noted in increased inventories) is going to result in lay-offs and unemployment. It’s almost a guarantee at this point once the boxcar impact of the prior supply chain shortages straightens out.
The third wave of food price increases is now here, and we are all likely starting to see those price increases in retail food stores. Depending on how much higher energy prices go this winter (gasoline, natural gas, home heating oil etc.) the middle class will again be making tough checkbook decisions on spending.
On a MACRO level (nationwide averages) I would not be surprised to see home prices drop to where they were in the beginning of the second quarter of 2021. Home sales have dropped quickly, and home inventories are now climbing. Home buyers are now in the position to negotiate for much lower prices as fewer home buyers are in the market.
If you did not purchase a home in the past year, you likely have stable equity. Depending on region, those who did purchase a home this year will have to wait quite a while before the price level returns. Meanwhile rents continue increasing as middle-class workers are stuck between diminishing real wages (Biden inflation) and higher home borrowing costs (Biden monetary policy).
New York Supreme Court Orders Reinstatement of Employees Fired Over Vaccine Status with Back Pay
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on October 25, 2022 | Sundance
The New York Supreme Court has ordered reinstatement for all employees fired over their nonvaccinated status and ordered back pay for those who were unlawfully terminated from employment [Full pdf Ruling Here].
The state supreme court found that being vaccinated does not stop the spread of COVID-19, saying the vaccine mandate and firing of the non-compliant employees was “arbitrary and capricious.” This is a strong rebuke to the totalitarian fiats created by state leaders including the state governor, mayor of New York City and health commissioner.
(SOURCE)
NEW YORK – The New York state Supreme Court has reinstated all employees who were fired for not being vaccinated, ordering back pay and saying their rights had been violated.
The court found Monday that “being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting COVID-19.” New York City Mayor Eric Adams claimed earlier this year that his administration would not rehire employees who had been fired over their vaccination status.
NYC alone fired roughly 1,400 employees for being unvaccinated earlier this year after the city adopted a vaccine mandate under former Mayor Bill de Blasio. (read more)
Energy Rationing Arrives in America
Armstrong Economics Blog/Energy Re-Posted Oct 25, 2022 by Martin Armstrong
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Numerous European nations have already stated that energy would be rationed during the winter. The Northeast area of America will now be required to ration energy as well. Biden released 15 million barrels from the emergency reserves to aid the Democrats in the 2022 US midterm elections. He did not provide any oil to the Northeast home heating oil reserve that is currently experiencing a shortage.
Bloomberg reported that some wholesalers in Connecticut have already put a limit on the amount of available fuel and must ration their customers’ consumption. Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage is urging the current Democratic Gov. Janet Mills to beg Washington for assistance before it is too late.
“Today, just about an hour ago, we got information from a local oil dealer… oil right now, tonight at five o’clock, is $5.69. Kerosene is $6.69 a gallon. This is what we’re facing right now,” LePage said. Republican state rep nominee Mike Grant called the current issue a crisis. “As we enter home heating oil season, diesel prices are nearing $6 per gallon. This is a nothing short of a crisis for CT families. To make things worse, in 72 days, the CT Dems will begin taxing home heating fuel trucks for delivering your oil to you. More inflationary pressure!” he tweeted.
That’s right, the Democrats want to implement additional taxes on fuel amid an energy crisis. Some families will simply be unable to heat their homes this winter. People will be forced to choose between warming their homes or filling their refrigerators. Our emergency reserves are being used as a voting bargaining chip instead of for their intended purpose. Americans will soon see the full effect of the energy crisis AFTER the midterm elections when these ignored issues come to a head.
MAGA Inc Super PAC Spends $9 Million For Support of Senate MAGA Candidates
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on October 24, 2022 | Sundance
Newsmax is no longer a good MAGA outlet. However, that said, Alina Habba, Esq, attorney to Donald Trump and spokesperson for the MAGA, Inc. Super PAC provides information on the recent $9 million midterm election spend to support senate candidates.
I find it a little funny how the RNC insiders gripe and complain that Donald Trump and the MAGA vote base do not spend more money on RNC approved candidates. Actually, I cannot remember a time before when an individual politician was required to fund the party slate, simultaneous to the party insiders supporting candidates who attack the individual candidate and MAGA base voters. Then again, it’s all part of the internal MAGA fight for control over the RNC apparatus. WATCH:
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(LINK)
The Albertsons and Kroger Merger Faces Legislative Scrutiny as European Company Ahold Assembles Competitive Bid
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on October 22, 2022 | Sundance
Last week we discussed the announcement of a $24.6 billion merger deal between Kroger and Albertsons supermarkets {Go Deep}. The majority stockholders in both companies are institutional investment groups, Blackrock, Vanguard and Cerberus.
The merger would consolidate the second and third largest food retailers in the U.S. and would certainly dilute the competitive dynamic amid the supermarket industry. Concern over price controls and decreased competition has now arrived on the desks of DC legislators who are reviewing the deal.
(Reuters) – […] U.S. Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar and Republican Senator Mike Lee were quick to say that they would hold a hearing to discuss the merger. A European interloper could make deal plans even harder.
Frans Muller, Chief Executive of Stop & Shop owner Ahold Delhaize (AD.AS), has made no secret of his desire to consolidate U.S. grocers. The Netherlands-based firm is already the fourth largest grocery chain. If it managed to cobble together a better offer than Kroger’s bid for Albertsons, it would become the second largest supermarket. Plane spotters tracked two Albertsons jets next to Ahold Delhaize’s U.S. base in Massachusetts in early August. Ahold declined to comment.
Ahold can also afford a chunky deal. The Dutch grocer has debt of just 2 times its $6.7 billion of EBITDA estimated for this year, according to Refinitiv. That’s 50% less than the average. If investors reckoned there was merit in a deal, Muller could also use equity to beef up the offer. At more than 12 times, Ahold’s price-to-earnings ratio is a fifth higher than Albertsons’, giving it currency.
Aspects of the deal might make it easier for antitrust authorities to get comfortable, too. Kroger and Albertsons would have a combined market share of 13%, whereas a deal with its Dutch rival gives much less of the pie. Ahold focuses on the East Coast of America whereas Albertsons has a big presence on the West Coast. So regulators wouldn’t have to worry about a larger Kroger shutting down competing Albertsons stores.
[…] U.S. senators who scrutinise antitrust issues expressed “serious concerns” about grocery company Kroger’s plan to buy rival Albertsons, and said they would hold a hearing in November on the $25 billion deal.
The announcement by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee antitrust panel, and Republican Senator Mike Lee confirmed a previous report by Reuters.
A Kroger spokesperson said the company looked forward to the hearing. “We welcome the opportunity to outline how this transaction will benefit America’s consumers by expanding access to fresh, affordable food,” the company said in a statement.
The Federal Trade Commission is expected to review the deal to ensure it complies with antitrust law. (read more)
This might be one of those rare times when a legislative and regulatory review may actually be beneficial to the outcome for the consumer.
December 16, 2020, Dozen Large Eggs $1.79
October 11, 2022, Dozen Large Eggs $7.29
(Source)
(DCBusinessDaily) – […] Scott Rasmussen Number of the Day shows 76% of voters have seen their grocery prices go up in the last month. The poll also found 60% of voters believe prices will continue to rise. Additionally, 54% of voters say gas prices have gone up in the last month and 59% believe gas prices will continue to go up. Ballotpedia’s poll methodology surveyed 1,200 registered voters from Oct. 6-8. According to the Ballotpedia website, the poll was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage and political party to reflect a fair balance of voters across the country. The margin of sampling error is +/- 2.8 percentage points.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) summary for the nation on Oct. 13, which found that the rate of inflation over the last 12 months stands at 8.2%. It rose 0.4% in September. In the last year, food costs have risen by 11.2%, energy costs have increased by 19.8%, gas prices have risen by 18.2% and the cost to purchase a new vehicle has increased by 9.4%. (more)
Centinel2012 