Tag Archives: Big Government

May 15 2023

A Stunned Maria Bartiromo Discovers the Chaff and Countermeasures Committee


May 14, 2023 | Sundance 

Mrs. Maria Bartiromo is good at pretending, very good. However, CTH has never pretended or played the game of pretending and we can spot a pretender a mile away.

The game of pretending is needed in order to retain the illusion of the Potemkin Village of DC.  A construct manufactured by the power structure that exists behind the puppet show, with the full intention to distract us.  Pretending is what gives rise to a Florida governor on a ‘book tour’ run for 2024. Pretending is what kicks the can of accountability away until it can be buried.

Pretending is needed in order to say Republicans will make a difference, or the black eye doesn’t hurt, and look he bought me flowers.  Perhaps some reminders and clarifications of the real game inside DC politics are needed.  After all, I am this close > < to going back into that mess to destroy some silos.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, hereafter called the House Oversight Committee or HOC, has a very specific function in DC circles that too few understand.  Once again, let us be clear while trying to explain decades of false information founded upon arcane legislative outlooks.

Understanding the DC game of Chaff and Countermeasures…. A “Countermeasure” is a measure or action taken to counter or offset a preceding one.

Politically speaking, the deployment of countermeasures is a well-used tactic by professional politicians in Washington DC to counter incoming public inquiry and protect themselves from anger expressed by the electorate.  The Republican leadership are very skilled in the management of “chaff” (outrage), and “countermeasures” (the distraction).

Within Washington DC, the HOC has a very specific and unique function.  What Fox News is to corporate conservative punditry, so too is the HOC to the same DC system of pretending.  The House Oversight Committee is the “Chaff and Countermeasures” committee.  The HOC operates for both parties with the same mission.

The House Oversight Committee was/is created by the House legislative leadership to make money for the party in control of the Chair.  When the House Speaker is notified of a DC corruption issue, inside his/her office they will often be heard saying, “give it to oversight.”  The intent of that instruction is to give the issue to the HOC, so they can hold hearings, create soundbites and fundraise from the issue.

Making money for the party in control of the Chair is the primary function of the House Oversight Committee.  The HOC does not exist to create accountability or oversight; the HOC exists to exploit the issue for fundraising and satiate the base voters of the party in control of the Chair.

The HOC presents the illusion of accountability by constructing soundbites and member performances which are then broadcast on television for appearances to the voting audience.  It is essentially theater.

The HOC is a “general oversight’ committee, not a committee of “specific jurisdiction.”  Thus, the HOC is the vehicle where Democrats and Republicans publicly display their political initiatives, frame their narratives and then broadcast them on MSNBC, CNN (Democrats) or FOX NEWS (Republicans).

Depending on the issues at hand, the HOC committee members are generally those performance actors best known to the audience of both parties.  This is not accidental; this is by design.  Again, for emphasis, I am only talking about the HOC, a “generalized oversight” committee. Only this specific committee has this specific mission.

A hot button topic enters the committee ecosphere. Specifically trained staffers and performance artists, uniquely qualified to put on theatrical productions (both parties), are then deployed to assist the representatives in creating the soundbites that hopefully will go viral and assist them with fundraising and opportunities to say, “here’s what we are doing.”   Outlining this construct is not an exhibition in cynicism; this is the reality of what the HOC is designed and created to do.

When you see the HOC performing at their best, you will see lots of soundbites created.

The Chair of the HOC is always part of the House Speaker’s close inner circle.  From that association you will discover by training, by habit, and by consequence, the HOC framework is developed to sustain the process itself as an end result.   The questioning is the sum total of all accountabilities.  The performance is the interview; the conversation is the point; the smoke is the fire.

Oversight, in the HOC framework of narrative creation, has evolved into reveling in the endless process (a fundraising proposition) and, as a consequence, it completely ignores the end point, misses the bottom line, doesn’t actually SEE the subject matter, and never actually applies accountability toward what might be discovered.  This is why you end up with high blood pressure, frustrated with the questions not asked, and throwing bricks at the screen or monitors when viewing.

The point of HOC hearings is to create what are now described as “viral moments” that can be used to generate money.   The second, and lesser objective, is to give the illusion of accountability while not actually ever holding anyone or anything accountable.  See prior HOC reference points like Fast and Furious, IRS targeting, Benghazi, the Twitter File review or the current Joe/Hunter Biden crime syndicate investigation.

If you watch the HOC through the prism of expecting some form of accountability for the violations of law, you will be frustrated and disappointed.   However, if you watch the HOC through the prism of how well the members will do at raising money from their performances, then you can evaluate the effectiveness – the proverbial winning and losing.

The HOC is designed by House leadership to perform the same basic function for both Democrats and Republicans.  The HOC committee assignments are selected based on the theatrical skills of each representative.  This is not to say the motives of the members are sullied or impure, it is simply to point out the motive of the committee itself is to generate fundraising from the skillsets of the members on the committee.

Once you fully grasp what the intent of the House Oversight Committee is about, and once you drop the expectation that any accountability in oversight is the intent, then you can watch the performances through the entertainment prism of partisan politics and genuinely enjoy them – or hate them.

The HOC is called the “Chaff and Countermeasures” Committee, because that’s essentially what the committee does.  It gives the appearance of targeting, steering the target to a controlled destination, and then distracting the audience from the outcome of accountability.

If sunlight is achieved, meaning the Mainstream Media cannot ignore the issue as presented and questioned, and if the general public become more familiar with the controversial subject matter or topic at hand, and if the party of the Chair can fundraise from the issue, then the committee has succeeded.  However, if you are looking for something to change as an outcome of any HOC investigation or hearing, you will be perpetually disappointed.

There seems to be a willful blindness on the part of the American people, a chosen refusal to acknowledge the implications of the unAmerican and unConstititional behaviors, actions and outcomes we are being served on a daily basis.

It can no longer be presumed to be a matter of “I can’t see what’s happening”, because a whole lot of normal Americans really are clean and articulate.

“I can’t see it” just doesn’t cut it.

NONSENSE!  Most people can see it.  Most are just choosing to reconcile the irreconcilable because it is more comforting to ignore the truth of it.  Just be honest, for many people avoidance has become a survival mechanism.

It’s more along the lines of “I see what’s happening, but it’s scary and complicated and confusing, and if I admit that I see it, I will become responsible in a way that I am not if I keep pretending I can’t see it or hear it or maybe I don’t understand it.”

McCarthy’s Lucy has unlimited footballs.

Admit it or keep pretending.

The choices are ours.

Personally, I will not pretend.

If we all stop pretending, eventually the DC house of cards collapses.

I think we need to change things…

… more later!

May 15 2023

Sunday Talks, James Comer Says 9 out of 10 Biden Crime Witnesses are in Jail, Court or Missing


May 14, 2023 | Sundance 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer reappears with Maria Bartiromo today to update on the status of the Biden crime family investigation. {Direct Rumble Link Here}

During the interview Chairman Comer informs Ms Bartiromo that nine out of ten people that would be considered material witnesses for the intent of the committee investigation are either in jail, in court, or missing.  Additionally, Comer states those who do have information are intimidated and fear for their lives. WATCH:

James Comer: 9 of the 10 Biden corruption witnesses are in court, in jail, or missing.

May 14 2023

Ground Reports – What is Your Experience With Prices of “Processed Goods” at Stores?


Posted originally on the CTH on May 13, 2023 | Sundance 

Recently I went to the supermarket to pick up some general provisions.  Given the nature of previously predicted food price increases, and proactive measures to mitigate the predictable prices, I haven’t needed to purchase basic foodstuffs in a while.   Yikes!  The prices… Wow.

Since we originally warned in ’21 about the waves of food price inflation that were coming, the prices have more than tripled on many food commodities.  That part is not as surprising in current review; however, the prices of processed foodstuffs is, well, quite frankly astounding.

I am left to wonder how working-class people are able to afford the jaw dropping price increases in highly processed food products like condiments (mayo, ketchup, mustard, etc), and even coffee and milk.  I knew the processing costs would drive those prices, but the scale is just astounding.

Beyond the foodstuff, what was truly stunning was the current price of non-food items at the store.  Items like chemical cleaners, soaps, aluminum foil, trash bags, Styrofoam products, ziploc bags, paper goods, etc.   I mean seriously, $8 for a box of trash bags, good grief.

After a review of the non-food item prices, I went back to the recent BLS report [DATA HERE] to look at the producer price index to see if the data reflected the scale of the processing cost that I was reviewing across a broad spectrum of goods.

Are consumers getting gouged by manufacturers who are taking advantage of the price shock inside the ongoing inflation?

Or are the processing costs, mostly driven by energy price increases, really that big a factor in the end product as it is generated?

In the topline final demand Producer Price Index [Table A above] you can see how we are cycling through the second wave of inflation that hit in the spring of 2022.  The rate of price increase is lower, but the prices are still rising.  That means the prior massive price increase is now baked into the product, and the current price will never decline. Instead, it will just increase at a slower rate than before.

However, that’s not the full story… and that is not the data I was most curious about.

The intermediate product costs are really where the story is found.

Table B [DATA HERE] Tells us a remarkable story.

Raw materials (unprocessed goods) are essentially in a deflationary status [-19.2% in April].  Meaning demand for the raw material has dropped well below the available supply.  However, look at how much of the deflationary price is consumed in the processing of the raw materials.

A full 16% is consumed by processing cost increases [energy, physical plant, transit, production costs etc]. That is remarkable.

A random example might be citric acid.  The price of the citrus base drops 19.2%, but the processing of the base into the intermediate good phase chews up 16% of the drop in raw material price and exits processing only 3.2% lower in price than a year prior.

Another example might be found in plastics.  The petroleum base, and/or a combination of each material additive, might be 19.2% lower than prior year, but processing negates the lower raw material price, and exits into intermediate essentially even -.04, and then toward the ending +2.3% final demand change in the rate of price increase.

The PPI data is essentially showing the flow of costs of production as reflected in the impact during processing.  We can assume mostly increases in energy, transport and distribution costs to bring the raw material forward to final good status.

Key takeaway, the demand side of the raw material is diminished.  There is less raw material demand.  However, processing costs are continuing to drive the final production price of goods that head into the hands of wholesalers who then bring the product to market.

The outcome of this are the prices of processed goods as noted in the products on the shelves.

QUESTION: Are you noticing rather remarkable price increases in non-food goods during your store visits?

May 14 2023

The 12 Caesars


Armstong Economics Blog/Hoards Re-Posted May 13, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

As far as the 12 Caesars are concerned, I am doing my best to assemble a few sets. These are not easy to put together. Nevertheless, I am giving it a shot to see what I can do that would be reasonably priced, under that $100k people ask on the market. I believe reasonably excellent VF/XF sets for around $50,000. But this is not something that quantity exists. This is very hard to assemble. I’m still trying to fill in some gaps. They will be presented in a nice wooden case.

May 12 2023

Can Socrates find new solutions to Crises?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Socrates Re-Posted May 12, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Allison Schrager at Bloomberg claimed that AI does a great job finding solutions based on existing rules and information. But it’s less suited for finding novel solutions to new problems. Somehow, this does not seem to apply to Socrates for there are no new problems anyway. Am I correct that Socrates will find new solutions?

GU

ANSWER: Yes, you are correct. However, Socrates has a database that is unprecedented and cost tens of millions of dollars to assemble. It can find solutions that are certainly not mainstream and may appear to be revolutionary but in fact, may have taken place even 2,000 years ago.

Socrates is NOT a Neutral Net. This is something I created from scratch. I put myself into this system. I had to teach Socrates how to analyze. I did not create some open AI and let it develop in some unknown manner. This is not Chat GPT where it is searching the net to come up with answers to what is the name of Lady GaGa’s dog.

Socrates has the largest financial database in the world. It has a money supply recreated from the coinage of thousands of years. It has correlated that with wars and plagues and it makes the connections. It has a database of 6,000 years which is unsurpassable. If I even tried to recreate this at today’s prices, it would be more than $1 billion.

Just on Forex Exchange, I had staff recording all the currencies back hundreds of years taking down quotes for all the world newspapers stored at the Royal Newspaper Library in London for years. Without that, we would never have been able to forecast that the pound would drop to par in 1985 when it was trading at $2.40.

What Socrates will do is it will test what attempts were made to solve crises in the past and what worked and what failed. Diocletian (284-305AD) imposed wage and price controls to try to stop inflation the same as Richard Nixon.

There was a major earthquake in Turkey that devastated the region. Emperor Tiberius issued coins to provide relief and suspended all taxes in the region to help rebuild. There have been so many different solutions that people today would never consider, but Socrates will.

May 12 2023

Here is a Larger Video of Socrates’ Solution


Armstrong Economics Blog/Socrates Re-Posted May 12, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

This was the Question asked:

Socrates, how do I solve a debt crisis without a default that is fair to both sides?

May 5 2023

The California Contagion – PacWest Teters on Becoming the Next Regional Bank to Collapse as Regional Banking Stocks Continue Severe Drops


Posted originally on the CTH on May 4, 2023 | Sundance 

According to those who relish the Cloward-Piven strategy, things are proceeding swimmingly.

…”As long as the decisionmakers continue doing the things that are creating the crisis, the crisis will continue.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said yesterday the “U.S banking system is sound and resilient,” insert uncomfortable snicker here.  However, uncertainty is continuing to pummel the banking industry, despite assurances from the Fed, Treasury, FDIC financial regulators and bankers such as Jamie Dimon who are all saying there is no crisis in the banking industry.

If you want to know the big picture source of the uncertainty, it’s the great pretending.  The average person can sense something is wrong, and the person who pays attention has the experience of institutional lying over the past several years.  The last ten years of lying and pretending has created the biggest collapse in institutional trust in U.S. history.

Russians interfered with the election – trust us. Stick this needle in your arm, it’s safe – trust us.  The FBI are the good guys – trust us. Biden won more votes – trust us. This inflation is merely transitory – trust us.

See the problem?

So, when the same voices shout, “the banking industry is sound, trust us,” well,… yeah, that suspicious cat sense that’s on high alert isn’t buying the chorus.

Reasonably intelligent people who accept things as they are, not as they would have us pretend them to be, can see the core connection to the World Economic Forum, Central Banks, and western globalist policy to change the entire dynamic of economics and finance around the “Climate Change” agenda, or Build Back Better, or Green New Deal.

Overlay that commonsense and pragmatic outlook with the logical consequences of the activity, and this banking collapse issue is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  As long as the decision makers continue doing the things that are creating the crisis, the crisis will continue.

(Via Wall Street Journal) – Regional-bank stocks tumbled Thursday despite assurances from the Federal Reserve that the banking system is on solid footing.

PacWest Bancorp PACW -47.04%decrease; red down pointing triangle, which has been hit hard since the collapses of several banks, dropped by about 40%. The stock started falling in after-hours trading Wednesday evening, after a report that it was considering selling itself.

PacWest said in a statement after midnight Eastern Time Thursday that its core customer deposits were up since the end of the first quarter, and that it hadn’t experienced any unusual deposit flows since the collapse of First Republic.

[…] Investors have been wondering how much further the problems in regional-banking could spread, and whether they will spill over to the broader economy. Some analysts said the decline in PacWest and others reflected the market’s tendency to view news as categorically good or bad, rather than worries about PacWest specifically. Western Alliance, another bank whose stock has been hit hard, fell by about 35%.

[…] Regional banks, as major lenders to businesses and families across the U.S., also tend to fall when investors are expecting a recession. The 10-year Treasury yield slipped this week, and Brent crude hit a 52-week low on Wednesday.

[…] On Wednesday afternoon, the Fed said the U.S. banking system “is sound and resilient,” echoing language from its March statement. Fed Chair Jerome Powell added then that deposit flows at banks had eased and that this week’s seizure and sale of First Republic should further stabilize the industry.

[…] PacWest shares were recently trading around $3.70, putting them on track for their lowest close on record. The stock has now lost some 85% of its value since March 8, the day that SVB spooked bank investors by announcing a loss and a planned capital raise.

Many of PacWest’s customers are tied to technology startups—a tightknit clientele that pulled from high-balance accounts en masse at Silicon Valley Bank before it failed. (more)

May 4 2023

Second Biden Removal Leverage Deployed and Timed to Coincide with First – Prosecutors Near Decision on Hunter Biden Indictment


Posted originally on the CTH on May 3, 2023 | Sundance | 

If you think about Joe Biden’s 4-year term in office as an intentionally constructed single term with no limits or consequences to the cascading damage inflicted; and if you think about the ideologues behind the plan to use cognitively challenged Biden as a tool to achieve their agenda; then everything from the way he was selected in 2020, to the disconnected and fragmented policy and Biden’s interpretation of them, just makes sense.

As our friend Lee Smith summed up in early 2021, “Joe Biden is an avatar for Barack Obama’s third term.”  That is what we have been witnessing.  A term in office where every policy wish list and far-left agenda item could be triggered without any care or consequence of political damage.

The people behind Biden are ideologues using this unique opportunity to further the “fundamental change.”  From that perspective every single granular move during the Biden term makes sense.  However, this also means there’s no term two in the design.   The damage will be so great, there’s no way for a second term.

Again, if you accept that background, and ignore the puppet presentations, everything currently underway that seemingly makes Biden look vulnerable and disposable makes sense.  It’s not Republicans trying to take him down, it’s Democrats – who will use republicans to assist them.

Into this landscape comes the second leverage point for the removal.  The vulnerability represented by Hunter Biden.  This approach also explains why the Hunter Biden investigation was completed long ago, and the Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco/Obama-minds were simply waiting for the timing of the election calendar.  Earlier today a Main Justice whistleblower provided the triggering mechanism for one removal approach.  Here is another:

WASHINGTON DC – Prosecutors are nearing a decision on whether to charge President Biden’s son Hunter with tax– and gun-related violations, according to people familiar with the matter, the culmination of a four-year investigation that Republicans have sought to portray as evidence the Biden family is corrupt.

Biden’s attorneys met at Justice Department headquarters in downtown Washington last week to discuss the case with U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. Typically, that sort of meeting — in which defense lawyers urge prosecutors not to seek an indictment of their client, or to seek reduced charges —comes toward the end of an investigation.

The people familiar with the matter said Weiss is nearing the end of his decision-making process, although they offered no specific timetable. They cautioned that the probe has taken longer than some officials thought it would, frustrating some law enforcement officials, and conceivably could slow down again before a decision has been reached. (read more)

Every single conflicting point reconciles, if you accept the Biden program was a one-term disposable effort.

The timing is up, now the removal leverage is deployed with enough time to present the branding needed for the Biden replacement.

Assets like Susan Rice are pulled from the White House.  The Obama embeds position to avoid damage, and the circumstances for Biden’s removal are created by the same people who control the collection of the evidence against him.

There isn’t going to be a Joe Biden DNC nominating convention in Chicago.  There isn’t going to be another presidential race by Biden; it was never the intention from the outset in the 2020 plan to use him.  Biden is in the process of being excommunicated from the party.  His usefulness exhausted, this is the disposal phase.

The only thing left to negotiate are the terms of the exit.

Apr 28 2023

First Quarter GDP +1.1% Reflects Military Spending on Ukraine War, and Drop in Domestic Investment Along with Inventories


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on April 27, 2023 | Sundance

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released their first quarter estimate of economic growth [DATA HERE] and the result of 1.1% growth shows how the U.S. economy has become dependent on government spending money we don’t have. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) calculation is a valuation of all goods and services created within the U.S. economy, minus the value of goods and services imported.

Keep in mind that all calculations are in dollar terms. Personal consumption expenditure (PCE) prices increased 4.2% in the first quarter after increasing 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Excluding food and energy, the PCE “core” price index increased 4.9% after increasing 4.4%.   Two-thirds of the increased spending on goods was driven by higher prices, only one third by consumers purchasing more stuff.

Looking at Table 2 (the percentage change by sector) the increase in prices provided 2.48% lift to the GDP but the actual purchasing of goods only delivered 1.45%.  Meanwhile the decline in inventories subtracted 2.26% from the GDP, a major factor, and domestic investment has dropped subtracting 2.34%.

Government expenditures (+0.81) drove more than 70% of the total GDP growth as national defense spending (Ukraine War) was a major federal component.  The local and state government spending increase was driven by higher wage rates.   Don’t forget there’s $2.2 trillion in Inflation Reduction Act (Green New Deal) spending that is also within the economy.

Overall, this is a dark picture.  Inflation is still raging. Inventories are dropping as consumer purchasing is squeezed, and replacements goods are not being manufactured. Companies are tightening their belts.  The federal government is spending to try and assist the economy, but the private sector is contracting economic activity.

When households evaluate their checkbooks, a Biden administration claim of a growing economy falls flat – because the only part of the economy that is growing is the part that fuels the energy and security needs of Europe.  Main Street USA is suffering through the massive inflation that Joe Biden has created, and purchases of anything other than necessities have come to a near halt.

Apr 27 2023

Chrysler Cutting 3,500 Union Auto Jobs


Posted originally on the CTH on April 26, 2023 | Sundance | 187 Comments

Earlier GM cut 5,000 salaried workers and several hundred hourly jobs. Ford previously announced it would cut a total of 3,000 salaried and contract jobs, mostly in North America and India.  Now, today, Chrysler parent company Stellantis announces 3,500 auto sector job cuts.

Stellantis owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands. Apparently, there is something in the U.S. economy that’s happening despite the great pretending….

Biden in Michigan, speaking to auto-workers, 2020

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) – Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV (STLAM.MI) wants to cut approximately 3,500 hourly U.S. jobs and is offering voluntary exit packages, according to a United Auto Workers union letter made public Tuesday.

The automaker is looking to reduce its hourly workforce offering incentive packages that include $50,000 payments for workers hired before 2007, UAW Local 1264 said in a letter dated Monday posted on its Facebook page.

Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson declined to comment. A person briefed on the matter said the figure might be lower than the figure cited in the UAW letter.

In late February, Stellantis indefinitely halted operations at an assembly plant in Illinois, citing rising costs of electric vehicle production.

The action impacted about 1,350 workers at the Belvidere, Illinois, plant that built the Jeep Cherokee SUV and resulted in indefinite layoffs. The automaker has warned it may not resume operations as it considers other options. (read more)

The Investment Recovery Act (IRA), aka “the green new deal” multitrillion spending bill, was supposed to enhance autoworkers.  Funny how the exact opposite happens.

The incentive packages outlined in the UAW Local 1264 letter included the following details:

  • Incentive Package for Retirement: $50,000 for seniority members hired prior to the 2007 agreement.
  • Voluntary Termination of Employment Program: guaranteed lumpsum benefit payment and is applicable to employees with at least 1 year seniority.

.

Overall govt spending and regulatory controls drove inflation for these past two years.  The ‘demand side’ was blamed, despite the lack of demand. I will be proven right when history is concluded with this.  Interest rates were raised by central banks in an effort to support the policies that are driving ‘supply side’ inflation, not demand side.

Energy policy was/is crushing the consumer by driving up the cost of all goods and services.  To support the overall goal of changing global energy resource and development (a false and controlled global operation), central banks raised interest rates.  Various western economies, including our own, have been pushed deeper into a state of contraction by central banks crushing consumer demand, and eliminating investment via increased borrowing costs.

In short, the goal was/is to lower energy consumption by shrinking the economic activity.  This, according to the BBB plan, was needed at the same time as energy development was reduced.

These economic outcomes are not organic, they are all being controlled by collective western government agreement.