Category UN a New World Order

May 13 2022

Senator Rand Paul Blocks Fast-Track Senate Vote for $40 Billion Additional Ukraine Funding


Posted originally on the conservative house on May 12, 2022 | Sundance 

Senator Rand Paul has blocked a fast-track senate vote on the additional $40 billion funding package created by Joe Biden and House Democrats.  Both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell approved a fast-track vote; however, senator Rand Paul (KY) stood defiant against their effort.

Despite the high-profile pressure from the two Senate leaders, Rand Paul refused to move and that means the Senate will have to take procedural steps to overcome his objection, which could take several days. “My oath of office is the US constitution not to any foreign nation and no matter how sympathetic the cause, my oath of office is to the national security of the United States of America,” Paul said in his remarks before objecting to moving to swift passage of the bill. “We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the US economy.” WATCH:

The $40 billion supplemental spending bill for Ukraine is more than the total military budget of Russia.  The combined Ukraine aid packages now exceed $60 billion, more than the entire budget for the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security including border protection.

Rand Paul is on the right side of history with his position, and the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with him.   However, the opinion of the people is irrelevant to the Senate.   Even democrat Senator Chuck Schumer seemed to admit this point when he said Rand Paul’s position “was not the opinion of the overwhelming majority here,” meaning in the senate.  Schumer would have used other terms if he thought the American people agreed with him.  They don’t, and he knows it.

May 13 2022

Producer Price Inflation Continues Surging at 11 Percent, Annualized Processed Food Increases Now 34.8 Percent


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 12, 2022 | Sundance

The “Producer Price Index” (PPI) is essentially the tracking of wholesale prices at three stages: Origination (commodity), Intermediate (processing), and then Final (to wholesale). Today, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released April price data [Available Here] showing another 11.0% increase year-over-year in Final Demand products at the wholesale level.

Last month when looking at internal economic activity that showed a contraction in consumer purchases of goods, we said pay attention to the service side of the ledger now.  Knowing people have stopped buying ‘stuff’, if people are starting to run out of money, they will cut back in the service sector (dining out, etc).

While the PPI focuses on prices, the PPI data for April shows exactly that service side contraction now taking place.  Wholesale inflation in goods is determined heavily by higher costs for raw materials and processing.  However, the rate of inflation within the service sector is more connected to what consumers can afford.   Modified Table-A, look at the April difference between goods (1.3%) and services (0.0%):

[Ex. The lawn company might pay 50% more for oil and gasoline (goods side), but they may not be able to increase the rate they charge you by 50% to mow the grass (service side).]

The major current production inflation in both goods and services is directly connected to the cost of energy.  Energy prices are embedded in every sector of the economy.  For “goods” higher electricity, heating/cooling and petroleum costs (packaging, materials, transportation, etc) are unavoidable and passed on to consumers. For “services,” individuals and companies raise their prices to compensate for increases in their own costs.  It is a cumulative inflation snowball.

In April the Total PPI of 0.5% was influenced by downward price pressure from the service side.   The price of final demand (wholesale) goods increased 1.3%.  The price of final demand (wholesale) services was 0.0%.  [Note: Wholesale trade services dropped by 0.5%]

Normally I would clean up TABLE-A “intermediate demand goods both processed and unprocessed.” However, in this month the entire field of data tells a very compelling story.

Note that Intermediate Demand Processed foodstuff prices grew at 2.9% in April.  Annualized that is a 34.8% increase in price.  This is the scale of future price increases we are likely to see at the supermarket.   That 35% rate of inflation for center store products is exactly what CTH predicted for the third wave of price increases.

The Intermediate Demand Unprocessed foodstuffs, increased in price by 2.5% in April, those foodstuffs are entering the wholesale market at a 30.0% annualized rate of inflation vs last year.

As an analogy, think of the difference between processed foodstuffs (center store and dairy) and unprocessed foodstuffs (fresh produce, meats) as you would normally think about them in the supermarket.   As you can see the processed product rate of inflation (34.8%) is higher than the non-processed (30.0%).  The difference is the additional costs associated with processing as a major result of energy prices.

What the producer price index at the wholesale level is telling us, is that inflation on consumable goods is still not yet at the apex.   For durable goods the prices are less volatile, but price pressures are still in the upward direction. The price of gasoline and transportation overall will be a big factor in current prices of highly consumable goods.   We cannot and will not start to climb out of the inflation spiral on goods until we see oil, gas and energy prices stabilize first.

On the service side, inflation is going to be determined by how long businesses and operators can continue operations without raising prices.  How long can a restaurant pay 30-to-35% more for their supplies, before those price increases need to show up on the menu?

Joe Biden sucks.

(WASHINGTON) – […] The producer price data captures inflation at an earlier stage of production and can sometimes signal where consumer prices are headed. It also feeds into the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures price index.

Thursday’s figures came just a day after the government released consumer price data for April, which showed that inflation leapt 8.3% last month from a year ago. That increase is down slightly from the four-decade high in March of 8.5%. On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.3% in April from March, the smallest increase in eight months.

Still, there were plenty of signs in the consumer price report that inflation will remain stubbornly high, likely for the rest of this year and into 2023. Rents rose faster as many apartment buildings have lifted monthly payments for new tenants. Prices for airline tickets jumped by the most on records dating to 1963. And food prices continued to rise sharply.

The Federal Reserve has stepped up its fight against rampant price increases, lifting its benchmark short-term interest rate by a half-point last week to a range of 0.75% and 1%. That increase is double its usual quarter-point hike. (read more)

May 13 2022

Diesel Fuel Shortage Sets Stage for Next Biden Created Crisis


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 12, 2022 | Sundance

It has often been said that if you chase the global climate change ideology to its natural conclusion, we end up in communal groups sitting around a tepid campfire eating some form of sustainable algae cakes and picking parasites off each other…  Prior to Joe Biden that prediction might have seemed like hyperbole. Now, not so much.

Indeed, the Green New Deal energy policy of Joe Biden creates massive downstream consequences.  Unfortunately, the White House doesn’t seem to care. The high prices and scarcity of critical goods are a feature, not a flaw, as they chase their climate friendly Build Back Better agenda.

Following the continuum of intended consequence, now we have diesel fuel shortages beginning to hit the U.S. economy; and with scarcity comes higher prices of an almost astronomical scale. “The national average price of diesel is now $5.54 per gallon, which is an increase of 22 cents from last week, which was when the most recent record was set. Data shows there’s no state that’s currently seeing diesel prices below $5.12 per gallon.” (LINK)

Making matters even worse is a drop in available inventory of diesel fuel which is about to become a crisis for the east coast of the U.S.  Some Truck Stop operators like Love’s and Pilot are already warning their big rig customers they may not have fuel for truckers.

[…] “Love’s is monitoring the fluid situation on the East Coast, we have experienced minimal outages during low traffic hours,” Oklahoma-based Love’s Travel Stops said in an emailed statement. “The company has no plans to restrict purchases of diesel.”

[…] Earlier on Wednesday, the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration said total inventories of distillates, which is mainly diesel fuel but also heating oil, fell last week to a 17-year low of 104 million barrels, which is 23% below normal.

On the East Coast, the situation is even worse. The EIA said distillate fuel oil inventories in the so-called PADD 1 district that covers the Northeastern states fell by 1.1 million barrels last week to just 21 million barrels, the lowest ever recorded in data going back to 1990.

Love’s truck stops, with some 550 locations across 41 states, also seemed to confirm reports on social media Wednesday that said Love’s and other truck stops such as Pilot were informing their fleet operators that shortages of diesel fuel on the East Coast may happen in the coming week at some stores. (read more)

Not only is the logistics of transportation contingent upon the use of diesel fuel for tractor trailer deliveries of essential goods, the other big users of diesel fuel are also farmers.

If it wasn’t challenging enough to triple the price farmers are paying for fertilizer this year, now the costs to operate the equipment they depend on has just doubled with the increases in diesel fuel.

“Some farmers are now even reporting farm diesel prices are higher than on-road diesel, which is typically not the case. … Certain areas of the country have seen shortages already and we expect that to continue. Supplies at New York Harbor–a hub for diesel distribution–are at a 30-year low,” says Meyer. “As such, the East Coast of the U.S. has been hit especially hard, resulting in diesel prices above $6.00 per gallon in that area.  (more)

ENERGY POLICY:

♦ West Coast ports that cannot handle container off-loads due to emission regulations.

♦ Nationwide fertilizer shortages and high prices.

♦ Massive increases in gasoline and diesel fuel costs.

♦ Limited shoreline refinery capacity due to federal regulations.

♦ Stunning increases in food costs at the grocery store.

… And what does the administration do against this backdrop?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it is canceling three oil and gas lease sales scheduled in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska, removing millions of acres from possible drilling as U.S. gas prices reach record highs.

The Interior Department announced the decision Wednesday night, citing a lack of industry interest in drilling off the Alaska coast and “conflicting court rulings” that have complicated drilling efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, where the bulk of U.S. offshore drilling takes place.

The decision likely means the Biden administration will not hold a lease sale for offshore drilling this year and comes as Interior appears set to let a mandatory five-year plan for offshore drilling expire next month.

[…] A federal appeals court in New Orleans, meanwhile, is considering a challenge to a moratorium on new federal leasing that Biden imposed soon after taking office in January 2021. Biden said the administration needed to consider the effect of new drilling on climate change and conduct proper environmental reviews.

Louisiana and 12 other states challenged Biden’s order, saying laws passed in response to the 1970s oil crisis require lease sales on federal lands and waters.

The Biden administration failed to “grapple with prior analyses” of the planned sales to give a valid reason for postponing or canceling them, Louisiana Deputy Solicitor General Joseph Scott St. John told a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel this week.  The three-judge panel did not indicate when they will rule. (read more)

May 13 2022

Brilliant Satire Contrasts National Priorities of Joe Biden


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 12, 2022 | Sundance

When the satire hits the central nerve of accuracy….

(READ HERE)

May 12 2022

Major Medical Mystery: Why Some People Despite Exposure Don’t Get COVID


By joelshirschhorn medical researcher, analyst at Joel S. Hirschhorn | Telling the truth with good data Published originally on TrialSite News on May. 12, 2022, 9:00 a.m.

A global medical mystery is being aggressively pursued by medical researchers.  The core issue is that a relatively small fraction of people despite high exposure to COVID have not gotten ill with COVID infection.  Think of health workers in hospitals in contact with many seriously ill COVID patients.  Also, members of households that stood out because unlike others in the home who got ill with COVID they did not get infected.  The mystery is what explains how highly exposed individuals did not get ill with COVID infection.

There are two main ways of explaining resistance to COVID.  One is that some people have strengthened their immune systems by any of a number of actions taken before or during the pandemic.  For example, some may have elevated levels of vitamin D in their blood by taking high doses of supplements.  The other explanation that appeals to medical researchers is that some people have a genetic makeup that gives them total defense against COVID infection,

May 12 2022

Zelensky Fights Alongside Nazis


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted May 12, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

A reader sent in this picture that they saw on President Zelensky’s Twitter account before it was deleted. Zelensky posted a proud Ukrainian soldier but mistakenly forgot to photoshop out the massive Nazi symbol on his chest. The skull image symbolizes the 3rd SS Panzer Division, “Totenkopf” (English translation: death’s head), which was an elite group of Nazis who fought for Germany during World War II. The group has a notoriously gruesome past and is responsible for atrocious war crimes such as the Le Paradis massacre where the division murdered 97 British troops after they surrendered.

Totenkopf also invaded the former Soviet Union and was responsible for killing high-ranking officers. The division fiercely battled against the Red Army and the symbol goes hand in hand with Russian hatred. The group was also responsible for murdering countless Jews in Poland and operating concentration camps. They participated in Intelligenzaktion or “mass shootings” in Poland where it is estimated that 100,000 Poles were massacred. When fighting the French, the squad murdered black prisoners of war solely based on race.

The term “Nazi” is thrown around by politicians globally, but in this instance, the fighters are wearing actual Nazi symbols and making it known that they support those ideologies. On Victory Day, Putin stated, “It’s [our] goal is to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide … for the last eight years. And for this we will strive for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.” So yes, the West is indeed providing military power to the same organizations that our ancestors fought against during World War II.

May 12 2022

Baby Formula Shortage Hits Crisis Levels


Armstrong Economics Blog/North America Re-Posted May 12, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: My sister in Texas begged me to mail her formula for the past two weeks. She has been close to rationing the milk she gives her 4 m.o. son. The shelves are empty and there is no baby formula in sight! There have been news stories but it has not been discussed enough. My sister is scared for her baby and the stores by me are also low on formula. I am limited to what I can purchase in one trip and drive to multiple stores each week. What do we do when the day comes when nothing is available?

-A Concerned Aunt

REPLY: We have entered the baby formula rationing stage of Biden’s presidency. I am glad you were able to find milk for your nephew because shortages have been recorded across the country. Datasembly reported that formula shortages reached 8% during the first half of 2021. From November 2021 to the beginning of April 2022, baby formula shortages reached 31% which was cause for concern to everyone but the FDA and the White House. As April continued, the out-of-stock rate spiked to 40%! During the last week of April, at least seven states reported a 50% or greater shortage in supply.

Target and Costco are rationing online baby formula purchases. CVS and Walgreens announced weeks ago that they would do the same. The FDA recalled three brands of formula in February after finding traces of bacteria, but that is only one factor for the shortages. Formula inventories were already down 17% on an annual basis in January prior to the recall. The ongoing supply chain issue is to blame as products simply cannot be delivered fast enough to meet demand.

The White House downplayed the issue and blamed the shortage on the recalls. “The FDA issued a recall to make sure that they’re meeting their obligation to protect the health of Americans — including babies who, of course, were receiving or taking this formula — and ensure safe products are available. That’s their job,” Psaki said in a lighthearted manner. They will be hard-pressed to fix an issue if they do not understand how it evolved. Despite manufacturers working around the clock, the shortage cannot meet the demand at this time.

I cannot advise on what to do; I can only comment on the reason for the shortage. However, I would encourage mothers to speak with their pediatricians. Watering down formula is extremely dangerous, and not all will respond well to a switch in brands. I could also suggest avoiding hoarding, but we all act in our own self-interest, as Adam Smith said, and I would not blame a desperate mother for taking extreme measures. The Biden Administration should have addressed this issue at the beginning of the year, but per usual, they waited until it became a full-blown crisis.

May 12 2022

Is China Really Still Communist?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics Re-Posted May 12, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION:  Hello Martin –
In today’s “Spread The Love”, you mention at the end that today, neither Russia or China are communist.
I think the assertion that Russia is not communist is probably believable and something most of us have heard in one form or another since 1989…
But how can you say China is not communist?
If they aren’t, please tell me what they are…Thank you!
MSC

ANSWER: Communist means the government owns everything. There is private ownership and stock markets which do not exist in communism. The government continues to call itself the CCP.
However, in reality, they are no more communist than the United States. There are many rich Chinese buying arts, real estate, and even ancient coins. Communism collapsed in 1989, they just did not want to change the name of the government for that would be admitting Mao’s ideas were wrong.

I went behind the Berlin Wall before it fell. You did not own your home. You were assigned a place to live. You could not move without permission and you were not allowed to get a car without government permission. Communism failed because it was more concerned with “equality” and ignored human nature.

When the United States began, there was the Federalist Party v Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party. The Federalists collapsed and then the Slavery issue split the party of Jefferson into the Democratic (slave party) v Republican. Today, the Democrats do not stand for any democratic process, they are functioning still as a representative party under a Republic. They also never changed their name to reflect the true nature of their party.

May 12 2022

EU Internal Battle = Separatist


Armstrong Economics Blog/European Union Re-Posted May 12, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The sanction imposed on Russia is an economic version of a nuclear war spearheaded by the United States without any consideration whatsoever. The United States was energy self-sufficient under Trump. Biden has taken every step to end fossil fuels and has had the audacity to turn to OPEC to ask for more supply while he denies American those very jobs. But Europe has no self-sufficient energy. This hair-brain idea that they can punish Russia for invading Ukraine was deliberately created by the West & Zelensky and is now tearing the EU apart.

As always, the West simply thought they needed to conquer Russia and then China to push this Great Reset with the United Nations in charge of the world because no single nation can tackle climate change alone. They never anticipated that shutting down fossil fuels before there was any viable alternative would lead to political chaos. The euro will be in serious trouble post-2024 and may even collapse as a viable reserve currency in the world. The euro was doomed when they refused to consolidate the national debts and become one real government because they simply never trusted each other.

May 12 2022

FBI Whistleblower Biden Attacking Free Speech


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted May 11, 2022 by Martin Armstrong